To be ripped apart (125th Hunger Games)
by Kanae-sama
Summary: Snow's lunatic granddaughter built up a dictatorship once again, with six districts instead of twelve. She reinvented the Hunger Games, and in the 5th Quarter Quell, each District will send a pair of silblings in the arena - but how will they deal with the Games when they know they have to kill their siblings in order to survive? (OCs only; multiple-POV-Story) ON HIATUS!
1. The Reaping

**Background Story:**

Somewhat unexpected, the now aged granddaughter of President Snow rose to power, building up a dictatorship and again, rearranging the Hunger Games, making the Capitol rise once more and building six new Districts around it. The careers districts are 1 and 4.  
She was tortured after the rebels won over the Capitol, and since then is lunatic, but evil, has a sharp, but crooked mind and plans on rising these glorious days, as she calls them, again to make everybody suffer the way she did. She pretends to do what Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark would have done, as they were the ones that killed President Coin, to mask the true nature of her regime.

Every year, one or two winners are crowned. Two can only be crowned if they are from the same district, in order to honor Katniss and Peeta.  
In the career districts, volunteering is turned into a contest- who arrives at the pedestal first, is he one to go into the arena.

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**The fifth Quarter Quell**:

To remember all of you that the spirit of the Hunger Games is stronger than any bond, even the bond of a family, only those boys and girls in between 12 and 18 years old are chosen who have a sibling in the same age span and of the opposite gender. All names will be mixed up, and one is reaped; this boy or girl will enter the arena with his sibling. If one has more siblings that could be chosen, he will be the one to choose his brother or sister to die or to be a winner in the arena. Volunteering is only possible if the volunteering persons meet the conditions. This year's two winners, a boy and a girl, may not come from the same District.

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

I was standing in the very front of the crowd, determined to volunteer; my sister had participated in these games, but her limp body that had been cut into pieces came back in a coffin. My perfect elder sister, the one my mother adored and trained, choosing her over me, all the time. They were sure she'd win, and I remember my mother crying so hard I thought she'd spit out her lungs any second, ripping her hair out and beating my younger brother up for no reason. My father just looked at me and said: "You can do better than her."

I'm lucky my mother didn't hear that, as she would've made me her next target. When the Hunger Games were over, a boy from district 4 won, my mother started drilling me. She had never been satisfied; I was to slow, to weak, to bad at everything. But my father was proud, and my younger brother and even my other elder sister looked up to me. And now, with only fourteen years old, I had the plan to go to these games, and to win this thing. My mother would be so proud…

"Well, we only have one bowl to choose from!" The woman's voice is high-pitched and sounds weird in some way. From the recordings of the very first Hunger games I've watched, I know that they used to call this the Capitol accent; and it sounds pretty creepy. She takes a paper and reads it.

"Annabeth and Philippe Laude", she announces. I storm forward; my sister is doing the same on the girl's side. We reach the tribune first. "We, Marti and Scarlett Annerose Cole, are volunteering to participate as tributes!" The woman smiles at us, but she looks like a snarling wolf. "Well, isn't that just GREAT news? Come up, you two!" We walk up; I have a triumphant smile on my face. The woman stands between us, takes our hands and raises them up into the air: the crowd is cheering for us, and I give them a triumphant smirk. I'll win this thing. I will. "Welcome the first two tributes in the 125th Hunger Games!"

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Irina POV (D2, F, 16)

I've never liked crowds: standing in between hundreds of sweating, shaking and trembling bodies, all breathing fast, and occasional hastily whispered words flying through the air, this is hell for me. Yet I am calm, as calm as one can be when he might be chosen to die in an arena. District 2 ain't bloodbath material, and we do have some winners, but we certainly aren't a career district. And I'd have to go with my good for nothing elder brother. He was only eleven month older, but acted as if I was his slave. And IF I'll be Chosen I'll make him pay.

As a battle royale, I am in the better position. I have caught and killed many animals as we have a pig farm and a butcher's shop. My brother, who is significantly smaller than me and as weak as a little girl, and with his nerdy glasses and ferret-like face not exactly attractive, was doing the finances whilst I helped in the shop.

"This year, I saaaadly can't say 'Ladiiiies first', since there is only one bowl", the lady on the pedestal begins, tracing alone the edge of the glass bowl with her fingernails that are very, very long, "so we'll go right into choosing. Be exited, because this time we will choose a brother and sister pair!" Her laughter is as fake as her nails, hair and golden colored skin. I hate her; she's new, came from district five, the most unwanted district, the coal district. She is really awful, so I suppose the Capitol people enjoy her.

She takes a note, smoothes it down and reads the name. I beg that it ain't us, not us, not me and the ferret. "And this year's tributes are", she smiles into the audition that is keeping its breath, "Toby and Irina Neiva!"

She laughs, and the audience claps. I walk up with my eyes fixed on the stairs leading up to the tribune, but the temptation to simply smirk into the cameras is too great, so I simply do it. We walk up, and the woman places herself between us, pretty easy considering that I try to keep my distance from the ferret as often as possible. The crowd cheers and I laugh as I see that the woman unintentionally knocked my brother off his feet as she lifted him off the ground. She looks at me with a slightly irritated expression, but I don't care.

Everyone knows how much I despise my younger brother, so why hide my feelings?

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Mina (D3, F, 13)

I stared up to the woman in pink, and she looked like she does every year, like a doll, a plastic doll. My eyes follow her as she walks to the glass bowl filled with paper scraps neatly folded three times. I have two siblings, an eighteen year old brother and a twelve year old brother. If I was to be chosen, whom of THEM would I choose? It would be cruel to choose my younger brother, he was so young, and he wouldn't stand a chance. But my elder brother's survival was important for the family, as my younger brother was crippled and I was too small to earn money. And since our father died in a factory explosion, someone other than my mother had to earn money.

If he'd die in the arena, my younger brother was doomed too, he would die alongside me, my elder brother and my mother from starvation; at least we'd probably reunite with my father. But I stopped thinking about it. I wouldn't be chosen; it was so unlikely to happen that I shouldn't even consider it. I had missed the pink woman's monologue; now she had already taken a paper scrap and smoothed it.

"Mina Michigan and either Drake, 12, or Dust, 18", the woman read aloud. I was so shocked I didn't even move until someone poked me, whispering: "You need to get up there." I saw the Peacekeepers coming my way already, and quickly ran up to the pedestal. The woman looked even more like plastic from close up. "Oh dear, so I suppose you'll choose your brother Dust?" I was staring at the ground, seeing only the hardwood floor and the edges of the doll-like woman's shoes.

"My mother can't bare Dust", I nearly whispered, but the microphones catch every sound in the dead silence, but nonetheless I spoke louder: "I'm choosing Drake Michigan." Shocked gasps came from the audience. My younger brother came up to us, looking shocked and despaired. "Drake, I'll explain", I whispered, but again it is audible due to the microphones; I should get used to not having privacy. The cameras catch my face, I look even younger than my brother, I was thin already, really thin, and my huge eyes were shining with tears.

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Reid (D4, M, 17)

I made eye contact with my sister who was standing right next to me. "Don't", she whispered, but I knew she'd do it. "You promised", I whispered. The kids alongside us were already making place, in order not to get trampled when we'd run to the front to volunteer. And even though my sister doubted we'd win, I had talked her into volunteering with me.

Me sweet, caring younger sister who would die for me at any time, had said yes, if only to protect me. So I wouldn't have to battle her when only the two of us were left, and I'd have a faithful protector in the arena. I didn't care about her as a person, but people so willing to sacrifice themselves should not be disappointed when they discover they were only used. It is their fault after all. The woman had begun talking, giving us a variety of her usual beginning talk: "Ladies aaaand gentlemen, I may welcome you to a very special reaping! Today we will choose a pair containing brother and sister!"

She grabbed a sheet and unfolded it, and without any other words, she read the names. Our names. "Reid and Eve Ira." I thought we'd Need to volunteer, I didn't think about this, but when I saw my sister running, I speeded up and followed her, racing to the pedestal, kicking and shoving people on my way. Someone fell right onto my path and I used his face as a stepping stone. I left his scream behind me, but it was his fault. I reached it just in time and with two jumps, I raced up the stairs. You could see the trail of fallen people wherever we ran through.

The woman raised our hands in the air, yelling: "THIS IS THE SPIRIT! WELCOME OUR NEWEST TRIBUTES: REID AND EVE IRA!" For such a small woman, she could scream pretty loud; my ears really hurt. I laughed frantically, and my sister chuckled. I saw a smirk in her face that didn't quite fit her, but I ignored it. It was most likely just for the cameras.

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Rea (D5, F, 18)

I stared at the pedestal, it was made out of birch wood, looking too light and clean for the district in which the dirty coal dust layered on everything and everyone, it was just everywhere. The district that was specialized in coal extraction was 12, but that was before Mary Snow had raised her empire. Now, the sixth's district was still associated with its heroes and heroines, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark; but there was no time to think of this now.

I was just hoping that my brother wouldn't be chosen, or me, for that instance. He was only fourteen years old, and I doubted I could protect him. I was weak and undernourished, and even though I was tall and fast, I couldn't defend anyone. My brother was sickly, and couldn't run very well. He'd die in the bloodbath for sure. And I wouldn't abandon him. He was standing quite near me, so I shot him a quick glance and mouthed: "Good luck!" he flashed me a thumps up, and looked to the tribune again.

The woman was new, the other one went to district 3 or so, but what do I know- or care, for that matter? They're all the same. They say the same, act the same and have the same job. She is very nervous, I can see that, and her voice is a little too low-pitched for Capitol-standards. That actually makes her more bearable and even a little sympathic.

"Well then, let's choose our tributes", she says and walks over to the glass bowl. She picks a paper scrap and reads it aloud without waiting like the pros do. "Rea and Tristan Junes!" She smiles unconvincingly. I catch my brother's gaze once again and I saw he was despairing already, close to crying. Again, I gave him a smile, and we started walking up the pedestal's stairs, and when we finally met, almost upstairs, I took his hand and tried to give him all the comfort he could get. But I had to let go when the moderator of the reaping stepped between us and raised our hands into the air.

"Welcome our tributes, Rea and Tristan Junes!" Her voice was cracking at the first word; she really WAS a newcomer.

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Dylan Rhys (D6, M, 15)

I stood right next to my twin sister. We were fraternal twins, boy and girl, but we still looked very similar, the same hair color, the same eyes and mouth, the same height; we were both muscular, and some people even confused us with each other. And even though we weren't similar, we weren't the same, there was this connection between us. Thus I know felt her tension, and felt the same. She was afraid, really afraid, and she automatically took my hand. I stretched mine out for hers in the very same moment, and our fingers met and intertwined.

"We can do this!" I smiled at her and she smiled back. "Well, I welcome you, to the 125th Hunger Games! My name is Isabelle Trinkett, and I'll be reaping this year's set of tributes, siblings, in this case!" She grinned at us, and I thought how sick it was that she enjoyed this show, all these deaths. Last year, she had a winning team, and she was hoping to get a better district after this year. She snapped a paper scrap out of the glass bowl, opened it and with a smooth, cheerful voice she read the names: "Dylan and Reiko Rhys will be the sixth district's tributes!"

We let go of each other's hand, and walked up the stair, exchanging a glance with my other half, my other being, when we reached the stairs. We walked up and automatically flanked the moderator, both with a bored smirk on our faces. We had planned this, just for fun, even though we never thought we'd be reaped. But now, we were able to move absolutely synchronic and our performamce was perfect. The woman took our hands and pushed them into the air.

"These were the last tributes reaped for this year's Hunger Games!" Beneath my facade, I was scared as hell. And so was my sister.

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Marti's POV [D1, M, 14]

When we watched the recap of the reaping, I checked out the other tributes. "What do you think?" My mentor's question was no threat; I didn't even have to think: "Three is bloodbath material, Two won't pose a threat, as they are divided, and the boy is"- I chuckled- "a weakling!" I had to laugh now. How the boy lost his footing, and the sister laughed her ass off despite the crowd being dead silent.

"Well, the girl seems ruthless, so she might be a minor stepping stone", my sister stepped in, smirking. I could tell she was thinking about that scene too. "District 4 will pose a huge threat; but they'll be good allies to begin with." I thought about what she'd said, and was a little angry that she simply answered my question. "Probably, but we'll be able to take her out pretty quickly. If she is that ruthless, she'll participate in the bloodbath. We can simply kill her then; she isn't trained. The girl from 5 is tall, but not strong, and the boy is looking super weak. No threat at all."

My sister grinned. "Heh. Pretty much what I thought. We'll be able to scare the crap out of them in training." I reached my hand into my pocket were I had a leather ribbon with a piece of clothing woven inside of it. And I knew my sister had a similar ribbon. The clothing had been from our sister's uniform, when they sent her bloody body back. I secretly took some of the blood soaked fabric and had made the ribbons. I liked my sister. Even though my mother favored her until she died, she had been nice and caring.

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Mina POV [D3, F, 13]

I stared at the screen when it turned blank, scared out of my skin. Then I turned to my brother. "Drake, you've got to understand. If I'd have Chosen Dust, mother wouldn't have been able to feed the two of you. And if we would've died, you would've too!" Drake simply stared at me with his eyes. He was taller than I was, and he was stronger.

But still I had to take responsibility for him, ensure he'd survive as long as possible into the game. I may look like an eight-year old, but I am really smart. I am able to memorize things very easily, so I can create a database very easily. And since I've been working with scissors and needles most of the time, at least when I'm working in the factories, I have at least some experience with sharp things.

I looked at my younger brother again, who was staring at the pitch-black screen. I wanted him to survive. I really did. This was the least I could do for him in order to make up for what I previously did. I felt tears prick in my eyes, but I held them back. If I'd cry, he'd be even more despaired.

"It's okay", he suddenly whispered, "I understand."He finally made eye contact, and he looked more serious than ever before. "You know we don't stand a chance, do you?" Instead of answering him, I just pulled him into a hug. I tried to express something beyond words: eternal sorrow.

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Tristan POV (D5, M, 14)

After watching the entire ceremony and going over the enemies with my sister and my mentors over and over again, I have been allowed to go to sleep, at least. But even though I am really tired, sleeps avoids me and leaves me thinking. I saw my sister's pained expression whenever she thought no one looked at her, I saw her attempts to raise my spirit, her optimism bordering on a lunatic's happiness, her smiles, her jokes. She was doing everything to make me feel better about my death, which would soon be coming. And hers might come too, even though she still stands a chance.

She is tall and good-looking, so she might get some sponsors. But even if they'd smother her with presents when she was in the arena, her odds to survive were still low. I had tried to remember every tribute, but it wasn't possible. I remembered a ginger haired girl, muscular and with a beautiful porcelain skin, and her brother who was actually pretty young for one that would volunteer, from district 1.

The siblings from 4 were too violent to forget; the way they ran through the crowd, shoving people aside, kicking hem and stomping on them if they fell in their way, only to reach the pedestal first.

And, at last, the twins from 6. They were of different genders, so they had to be fraternal, but they looked very similar. I fell asleep thinking about them, and of course I had a nightmare.

I was chased into the district 4 siblings by a mutation, and escaped, only to be caught by the twins and to die as I couldn't seperate them. I woke up drenched in sweat. At home, I shared a room with my sister, and she always calmed me when I had nightmares; but now, I was alone.

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Eve POV [D4, F, 16]

I watched my brother leaving the wagon to go to sleep, and thought I should do the same; but I had to think some things over, some things I only ever noticed in small traces, but that were now all clear to me. That stupid idiot would get what he deserves in the game; he used me, he simply used me and was going to make me do all the work, and then ask me to kill myself when only the two of us were left. He hurt so many people already, with my help, and I never noticed he just saw me as a tool.

I cared for him! I cared for that bastard; he was my elder brother, my idol, the one I'd die for. And now he betrayed me. But I wouldn't leave his side- I never would! No matter what he did, as long as he survived, I'd be happy too.

Suddenly, my brother entered the wagon again, he came up to me and hugged me: "I'm so thankful I have you, Eve. I'd be scared as hell in your place!" What? Maybe I was wrong. He did care about me. He cared about me! I felt my pulse fastening. 'I'll do anything you want me to, brother', I thought. 'I love you!'

So this was the first chapter of my new little fanfic- my first fanfic. I excuse for grammar or any other mistakes I might've made, English isn't my native language. If you have any suggestions on what should happen next, or something else to critizise, leave a review ;)you can also cast a vote on who should survive if you want... but some characters have already been sentenced to die, and some need to survive- the general storyline and plot is set already.

**A/N: Next chapter will follow up quickly, because most people (like me) don't even look at fanfics with only one chapter. I can't guarantee I won't suffer from writer's block at one point, but I'll never guilt-trip this story - pinky finger promise! ;)  
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	2. The Chariot Rides

**The chariot ride**

Irina [D2, F 16]

My dumb brother tripped and nearly fell when we exited the train when we arrived at the Capitol, which made me chuckle. The train had passed a cheering crowd, and then came to a stop near the training center which I could see in the background. Yet, we had to go into another building, where the stylists would turn us into whatever they thought would look good this year. It always, almost always looks awful; even though the president officially says that only the rebellion made this 'new, better world' possible, no one dared to use the on-fire look again.

We were led through the enormous building. Now my brother and I, luckily, parted ways and were sent into different rooms. In my room, three widely grinning people awaited me and yelled "Heeello!" so loud that my ears rang. But I forced a smile on my face.

"Hello", I said in a charming, sweet voice. My prep team consists of three women, two with a different-colored skin. One is a soft blue color, and the other one went with bright yellow. They make a nice pair together. The third one is actually pretty beautiful, she has a tattoo on her left cheek, showing a dragon that spews flames on her left eye. Her red hair is done up in a beautiful way.  
"Well then, let's get started", she smiled, and takes some strange looking fabric strips from a table. I've never seen these before, so I'm curious what they do.

Ten minutes later, I regret that I actually wanted to know what these do. I regret that I made contact with these. My entire legs are free of hair, and so are my arms, my armpits and my bikini zone. But I just grit my teeth and live through the pain. When they were done, the yellow woman took another piece of very rough-looking fabric, put some sort of super-expensive body wash on it and suddenly rubbed it all over my body. Especially on the now hairless parts it hurts like shit, and I have to be careful not to tear up. They remove the foam and use body lotion, and miraculously, the red patches and slightly swollen areas on my skin disappear.

But my face is next. My eyebrows get plucked, and my entire face is exfoliated and creamed too. Looking at my slender body in the mirror isn't as painful as usual; I actually look a lot better. My hair is brushed, washed and I get a pretty cool haircut and curls. Now my hair looks better too, the cinnamon strands have a golden glimmer. My body is tanned, and without all that hair, the skin looks flawless and smooth. My slender body shows every muscle very well, making me look stronger and simply better.

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

The idiots from my prep team have removed almost all of my hair until my skin feels bare and unprotected. I've never felt so vulnerable before, but since I'd never admit that, I just glare at the team whenever they come near me, which sadly doesn't stop them from doing their chores. I just can't be as threatening as the Capitol, I guess. But why they had to remove my entire body hair, I don't know.

Why does a man have to be hairless? I'm tempted to ask, but I won't. The very best would be to simply break free right now, and simply stand on the chariot in the clothing I wore when I came here, but what would my parents say? What would my mother say, and my dead sister, if she is watching?  
Thus, I endure the pain and annoying treatment and wait for the stylist to come with whatever he thought up this year- hopefully, nothing to colorful. To get my thoughts off this, I try to think about something else, but the only other thing that came to mind were the two tributes from district 4.

The boy seemed malevolent, but strong, and the girl… something was off about her. Something was really off about the two of them, but the girl could actually turn into a psychopath. He had seen this in the year his sister died: once a tribute, career or not, looses a person that is dear to him or her in the arena, most likely the district partner, and he would simply go mad. If the girl lost her brother, there was a chance of her losing her mind. And a career psycho was way more dangerous than a normal one.

In the year his sister died in, it had been really horrible. His sister's district partner went mad and killed another career; the girl from 4. The boy from 4 managed to flee, and was the one who won these games later. I decided to simply kill the girl first.

Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

I looked around as soon as I stood on the chariot, and watched over the others. District 1 was wearing beautiful costumes, as always: the boy was wearing a tuxedo decorated with diamonds, and the girl was wearing a very thin, silver dress that barely covered anything; but she was covered in so much jewelry that her skin was barely visible at all. The jewelry looked very expensive too, kept completely in silver with red and black gems that complimented her hair color. She looked astonishing, I had to admit. And the boy looked okay too. That he was smaller than his sister made him seem weak, though.

My sister climbed on the chariot and smiled at me. "District 2 looks just awful. Is she supposed to be a cow? It fits her!" I had to laugh; the girl was REALLY dressed as a cow. "With a tree as a brother", I smiled.

The tributes from three looked quite good; both of them were wearing costumes that were made of a lot of different fabrics. District 5 was dressed in miner outfit that looked as bad as always. And district 6 looked just strange, their costumes consisted of cables and light bulbs and some other stupid electronic stuff I didn't know how to describe.

"You look astonishing too", my sister said. I was dressed in a fishing net, a common look for the district 4 boys, but I looked better than most, the training shaped my body, and I was pretty tall. My sister was dressed in a fluttering blue dress that showed her long, golden legs and her muscular, well-shaped arms. "So do you", I said in a charming voice. My live depended on her after all; she'd protect me, I was sure. Even though I didn't know why, she had a thing for me, and the fact that it sometimes became creepy wasn't that bad.

The first chariot started moving, and I heard the crowd cheer for district 1. The next chariots earned only mild applause and district 2 some laughter, and then we were basically taking a bath in the loud, cheering crowd. My ears rang from the shouting and screaming. My sister seemed to enjoy all of this; she waved, laughed and threw kisses into the crowd, whilst I simply gave them an ironic smirk.

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Drake POV [D3, M, 12]

I was watching the careers with wide eyes, until the guy from 4 caught me looking, and I quickly turned around and faced the other tributes that were looking just as terrified. My sister and I were dressed in a quite pleasant outfit, made out of kinds of fabrics that I ever knew that existed. But all of these tributes were taller and stronger then I was- than we were. I look at my sister, who was staring right into the eye of the district 1 guy. I was wondering how she managed to stand the guy's intense gaze. But finally, she looked away.

"What the hell were you doing? Are you TRYING to anger them?!" She looked into my eyes. "You said it yourself, didn't you? We don't stand a chance. And I hate them." The first chariot left the hall, then the second, and ours followed. The horses were trained to run by themselves, so we didn't have to do anything. We were driven through the streets, completely surrounded by the crowd. The volume was so overwhelming, that I nearly broke down. It basically crushed me, and I would faint every moment; I did notice, though, that we got more applause than the chariot in front of us.

But the cheering people made everything even worse. My sister grabbed my hand, but unlike many, many times, it didn't help at all. I wish she'd hug me, but she wouldn't do that, not on the chariot. My knees were shaking, and suddenly I actually felt her slender arms wrap around me. The crowd suddenly went quiet. I first thought they were shocked, but the screens showed my sister's and my tearing face; but the whispers from the crowd made me reconsider my opinion.

They actually felt for us, or at least, they sympathized in the way they always did. It wouldn't stop them from cheering about our deaths, Sponsoring the tributes that killed us - we'd be two kills in the statistic at the end of this games. We were bloodbath material after all. I freed myself from my sister, took her hand and smiled as bravely as I could. The crowd cheered again, but it didn't shock me anymore.

Tristan POV [D5, M, 14]

When we finally arrived in front of the president's balcony, I was exhausted, bored and terrified in equal measure; and the old woman's giant face on the screen didn't make it better. Her face was modified, her skin pale and smooth, her blue eyes scowling, her lips were full, but didn't look like she could actually move them. When she actually started talking, and delivered a speech, I saw that she barely moved them. Maybe they'd pop if someone would poke them. My sister next to me didn't look at the screen; she stared into the distance, her eyes dull and blank.

"Sister", I whispered, but even though she blinked at me, she seemed absent. I knew where her thoughts were, I remember her always sneaking away at night, hanging out with that one guy at School, against our parent's will- he was poor. I was sure she missed him, and he was watching her onscreen in this very moment, back home.

I fixed my eyes on the screen again, and shifted uncomfortably, waiting for us to drive into the hall of the training center; it was exhausting to stand on a moving vehicle all the time. The chariots that were lined up in front of the balcony started moving again, and finally, we were driven away again, until we arrived in the center. The careers jumped off their vehicles while the rest of us, aside from the district two boy who fell down, followed by the chuckles of his sister.

Reiko POV [D6, F, 15]

I stood next to my brother on the chariot, staring into the distance as if I was oblivious to all the people around me. Whenever my brother's or my face appeared onscreen I saw we looked bored, but that wasn't exactly what we felt; we were scared as hell. We looked at each other. "Dylan", I whispered, "are you okay?" He nodded and we smiled at each other. But our smiles soon turned into smirks as we watched the crowd, people that looked so inhuman that I couldn't fear them, even though they'd watch us die.

The president on the balcony looked just as artificial, her face like plastic, and her hair like silk, but even though she was looking quite good, something about her was boring. My smirk turned into a grin as I saw that my brother thought just the same.

I decided to listen to what she was saying: "Again, we will bless our national heroine Katniss Mellark, or back then called Katniss Everdeen, who fought against the rebels and killed their leader when she discovered the shocking truth beneath the rebel's neat surface. She made this land possible and turned against the cruel governments of her time; if she would have been alive the time we founded this new, better version of Panem, she would've supported us. Sadly, her two children died due to a mine accident, but one of her grandchildren survived. Today, the girl we took care of when we found her is the head game maker, Annabelle Mellark",  
Rose Snow said, making me feel nauseous; Katniss Everdeen never would've supported this sick woman, she wanted a republic.

I have always identified myself with her, at least some of her aspects, and she would've seen the truth. But after all she'd been through she probably didn't have the energy to lead another rebellion. She lived the rest of her life in peace, and so should it be.

**A/N: Here is the second chapter, just for you. So no one has left reviews, but honestly, I don't care. This whole thing is for those who like it, wether they comment or not :) it is not set who survives yet, even though I strongly sympathize with the Girl from 2, Irina (yeah, I like the Psychopath :D). **

**Now there is something more general: even though no one has asked, I will simply asnwer the question I would've asked.**

**Why 6 Districts?**

**I try to give every character a unique personality and Background Story, and try to involve as many sibling combinations as possible. Doing this with twelve characters is hard for me, and I can't think of what I'd do if I had to describe 24 persons... so basically, I'm making it easier for me.**


	3. The Training (Day 1)

The Training - Day 2

I stared at the weapons in shock, but was aware that my sister was watching me; she had laughed at me at the reaping, so I didn't want to give her another reason to show me how much she despised me. I didn't want her to disgrace me in front of the careers again. I didn't want to be a weakling, bloodbath material. But the hungry eyes of the careers were carefully watching me, and every time we accidently exchanged glances, cold, numbing fear crawled right into my bones, made me unable to move.

I was the last one to get up after the chief trainer finished his speech, as the girl from district 4 had glared daggers at me mere seconds ago. When I finally stood up, I watched the weapons once again; what the hell should I do? My sister went to the fire-making station and a few seconds I thought about joining her. But she'd simply shoo me away and embarrass me again. The stupid bitch should watch out for me in the games, because I wouldn't hesitate to kill her. But she wouldn't either and she's much stronger than I am, taller and better-looking. The sponsors would help her and not me.

Yet she was my younger sister, and shouldn't the younger sister admire the elder brother? She held nothing but disdain for me. After looking around for a few minutes, I decided to go to the edible berry station in order to learn something useful. Twenty minutes later I knew almost all of them.

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Scarlet Annerose POV [D1, F, 18]

The training hall was awesome, they had spears, swords, machetes, throwing knifes, tridents and bows. Bows and swords have always been my favorite weapons, and I mastered them early on. I was good with spears and throwing knifes, but machetes aren't really my strong suit and I've never even held a trident before.

But without another word, I grabbed a bow, a few arrows and went right to the target dummies. The first arrow hit right between the eyes; the next two hit the doll in its pupils. The fourth one hit the throat and the last arrow the heart. The dummy was marked, the red colored area was the lethal area, the orange one the area in which injuries were pretty dangerous, and a few areas that might lead to death by not taking care of the wound were colored yellow. All my arrows hit the killing spots.

The other careers lined up behind me. My brother was doing okay, but since I knew that long-distance weapons weren't really his strong suit, I didn't expect anything else. The girl from 4 did fine too, but the boy messed up. Three of his shots were in the orange area, and only two in the red one. I hope he had some other qualities.

"What should we do next?" I asked. "How about some spear throwing", the boy from 4 suggested. Reid was his name, I think. "Sounds good", my brother agreed. He loved spear throwing. I started again; my mother told me to always start, or volunteer for the first spot. It makes you look stronger, especially as I didn't look as strong as the average career.

Four of my spears hit the lethal zone. My brother did perfectly, all five spears hit point-blank into the head and chest of the training dummy. The girl from 4 hit the orange zone four times and the red zone once. I looked at the trident station again. "How bout we grab some tridents?" The girl from 4, Eve, I think, said. Yeah, Reid and Eve were their names.

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Eve POV [D4, F, 16]

After I failed in spear throwing and my dearest brother in the hated Bow and Arrow discipline, I suggested going trident fighting, mainly to wash away the shame of the former stations. He shot me a look that wasn't thankful, but a bit proud and that made my pulse go even faster. I decided to give my heart into trident fighting, it was my only way to stand out and catch his attention. The station had dummies that could be turned on and act like actual humans you need to fight.

The girl from District 1 asked for training, but I simply said she'd learn it by doing it. I grabbed a trident and took a closer look at the test dummy. It had nine levels of difficulty, and I chose level nine. The machine gave me a countdown, and then came to life, immediately attacking me. I dodged and attacked, and just as it did in training, it felt like a dance, a beautiful, deadly choreography- well, deadly for my opponent.

After a few more seconds, I was bored, and with a simple flick of my trident, turned the dummies throat into a mess that would've given the Capitol citizens a nice, bloody ending of my opponent's life. It took me half a minute or so to bring the thing down.

I saw my brother flash thumbs up, and would've hugged him if possible, but that would've made us look weak; yet my heart skipped a beat as my beloved brother approved of my skill, and he was proud. I simply smirked at the few tributes who'd been watching me from their stations and I grinned when they hastily turned away.

My brother did very well too, but I knew no one could match my trident skills. The girl from one tried on a lower level first, and then raised the difficulty till level 8. The guy only made it to level 6. We decided to go to the machete station next.

Irina POV [D2, F, 16]

I had been to the throwing knife and the bow station already, and I now was at the machete station, something I was really, really good at; I killed hundreds of pigs with them, and the robot that was given me for training was no challenge at all, as soon as I was used to attack humans intsead of animals. Level 9 was hard, but still okay, and it always took me less than a minute to finish it.

I had just finished killing the current dummy for the twelfth time when I felt someone watching me. Looking up from the second doll that I damaged so much that they couldn't quickly repair it, by damaging the cables, I saw that the careers were watching me. "Not bad for a bloodbath", one of them said. One of the boys, the one that had been so good at the trident station; most likely district 4, then.

"You think I'm bloodbath? Think again, honey", I grinned. I had a shot at winning these games; I was good with weapons, good with edible plants and with climbing, as all these skills were required in my district. The guy from 1 mustered me with an expression in his eyes that could only be described as annoyance, but the guy that had originally spoken looked at me as if he was interested. His sister's eyes told me she wanted to see me dead, and the girl from one looked just bored.

"You're quite good with a machete", the girl from one said. Her hair was cherry red… wasn't her name Scarlet? "I've killed a lot of animals with them", I said. "Animals", the guy from one said, "But killing humans is different." I shook my head. "Where is the difference? All blood looks the same."

The guy from 4 shot me one last look before they went to the weapons and got themselves some dummies. A strange tension was left in my body, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the people I had spoken to wanted to see me dead. I watched the guy from district 4 a little, and had to admit that he looked quite good.

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Mina POV [D3, F, 13]

The weapons around us looked dangerous and actually far too huge for us to even lift them. So I asked the head trainer what we could do. "If you want to stay out of trouble", he smiled, "you should check out the climbing station." He pointed to a small ladder on the wall, leading to a secured rope climbing course; I looked at my younger brother and he nodded.

We hurried to get to the ladder and climbed up, on a platform that marked the beginning of the climbing course. The trainer, a young woman, told us how to climb, and how that would improve our survivability in the arena. "You have a much higher chance of succeeding if you can climb trees. The two of you are small, so you can climb higher than the careers."

It looked pretty easy, but soon I was covered in sweat, just as Drake was. I was dangling from a rope, breathing heavily, and I was only halfway done. But from here I could see almost everyone else. I saw the careers at the machete station with another girl. My brother arrived next to me. "Ain't that the girl from District 2? What's she doing with the careers?" He asked me. "I have no idea", I said as we watched them.

The District 2 girl was better with the machete than everyone else. "She probably joined their alliance", I mumbled, spotting her brother at the edible berry station and watchinghim; he seemed to be quite good at it, and I decided we'd go there next. District 5 was standing at the fire making station, and District 6 was trying sword fighting.

"We can see anyone from here", I whispered, stunned by how almighty I felt, so far above the ground. "Let's continue", my brother smiled, and we climbed to the end of the course, only to follow a small way all around the hall back to the platform from the beginning, so we could start again.

Rea POV [D5, F, 18]

I was sitting cross-legged in front of the wood I was supposed to set fire on, with flint and tinder; but somehow, it didn't work. We had been at the edible berry station, and I had been able to memorize almost all the edible ones; but now, I failed. Even with matches, it had been hard to light a fire, and now I was despairing.

My brother, meanwhile, was lighting his third fire already, with only two sticks. "You are really good at this", I sighed, looking at the wood that still didn't want to burn. My brother smiled. "I failed at the last station. I'd feel useless if I couldn't do anything." I smiled back and continued to work harder, watching all the other careers. If only another girl survived with him, he'd win.

My heart ached, knowing that I'd have to die to secure his life. Looking around, I saw that no one seemed to be experiencing the heartbreak I was suffering. But I suppose they didn't realize what this meant; they concentrated on training. But once they'd enter the arena, they'd quickly notice.

"Hey", a voice said behind me, "could we join you?" I turned around to see the tributes from District 6 standing behind us, the twins, Reiko and Rhys. I looked at them for a few seconds. "Yeah, sure", I smiled as honest as I could.

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Dylan POV [D6, M, 15]

My sister and I had just finished sword fighting, and we had proven to be quite good at it. Now we were covered in sweat and my sister's ribs were hurting pretty bad, as one of the moving dummies had hit her. We didn't know what to do next, but suddenly a thought hit my mind.

"We can't both survive", I mumbled. My sister nodded. "But there is a chance one of us might, if we get allies", she added. I stared at her. "Why? We don't need anyone else!" She looked at me with huge earnest eyes. "But if we get allies, one of us might become a victor with the opposite gender ally. Think about it, we'll have to separate at one point if one of us wants to make it." He stared at me for a moment, and then pointed to the fire making station.

"District 5 is the only possible partner." We looked at each other, thinking about it. We'd never needed anyone but ourselves. The one that wasn't Reiko was me, and the one that wasn't me was Reiko. "I'd say we ally up with them", I finally said, even though I'd rather die together with her. But I couldn't ruin her chances of survival.

She smiled at me, and I knew she was thinking just the same. We walked up to them. "Hey, could we join you?" I asked the two tributes. They looked up and the girl said: "Yeah, sure", with a seemingly honest smile. We sat down next to them and started fire-making. "It would be smarter to ally up", my sister said bluntly. The girl from 5, Rea, nodded and said: "The odds would be better for us."  
We nodded, and I watched the boy that had been quiet. Yet I saw a hopeful, happy smile on his face.

**A/N: The chapter, as you, my nonexistent readers (sorry, had to crack that joke) has been reposted. Just as all the other chapter will be soon, with a new, (hopefully better) layout. I might update again next week, and I thought I just might inform you that till now, there are three epic battles to death planned. And about the romance, the focus won't be set on it. I just thought it was the perfect way to make Eve, who is a Psychopath and an incestuous beast already, completely freak out. So I guess we all see that epic battle coming. I seriously consider making them splatter though, but then I'd have to change the Story to M. Well, I might post them as oneshots if someone wants to red.**

**Review if you want anyone in particular to win or die :) though one career will most likely survive - someone with the odds in his favor isn't likely to fail, and this is no story about defeating the odds.**


	4. The Training (Day 2)

The Training - Day 2

Reiko POV [D6, F, 15]

The next day we met up with the district 5 tributes for training, and we went spear throwing. Rea was quite good at it, and so was my brother, but Tristan and I failed. It somehow shocked me to see that my brother and I weren't good at equal measure. This whole torture, the allies we had and the stress drove us apart; something I didn't like.

How would it be in the arena? Would we try to kill each other? I couldn't believe that, but I had to ask myself that question, if only to find an answer. After some more spear throwing, Tristan had gotten better, but even though I tried real hard I didn't improve. This frustrated me to no end, so I suggested going to the machete fighting station.

When I saw the moving dummies, though, I felt regret. They looked super scary. Rea started on level 5, but soon regretted this decision- even though she had won the dummy managed to hit her in the stomach with his dull weapon several times. My brother was okay, he was good at level 3, okay at level 4, and at level 5 almost lost the fight. He tried level 6 and it easily finished him. It now was my turn, and I forgot to deal down the difficulty.

Yet I managed to block the attacks quite good and finally finished the dummy after a minute or so- covered in sweat, but victorious. That's when I saw the careers coming to the station, with the district 2 girl. It was quite surprising, but she seemed to be a part of the career alliance. And whilst the district 1 tributes seemed to be okay with that, the girl from district 4 was at another station. The girl from 2, though, took a machete and sliced a dummy that was at the highest level into pieces in mere seconds.

"Let's check out some other survival stations", I whispered.

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Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

I went to the training hall with my sister, but she stopped me before we could enter. "I don't want that District 2 bitch in our alliance", she pouted, and I simply ignored her she grabbed my arm, her long nails digging into my skin. "You like her, do you?!" I stared at her, shocked by her change. "Why would you care? It's not like the two of us could win!" I hissed, and we went to the other careers and Irina. "So what are we gonna do? I think we should split up", Scarlet said, and we all agreed. I turned around to go trident fighting, and finished off a few dummies. After my twelfth fight I heard footsteps behind me, fast as if someone was running, and suddenly, a scream pierced the air; an angry scream coming from someone I knew too well.

I turned around just in time to see how Irina dodged a spear that was thrown at her by my sister, and ran off to throwing knife station. She threw the knifes with deadly precision, and I had to imagine her doing this at home too, to kill the animals from afar when she was too bored to chase them. My sister managed to dodge all but one that left a small cut on her cheek; but they kept her at a distance, and Irina reached the machete station.

With a deadly looking, huge weapon she ran right towards my sister. I felt no urge to protect Eve at all, and watched as Irina drove the machete into Eve's right upper leg, not killing, but crippling her. She looked up and faced me with a slight smirk, her dark green eyes glowing malevolent, covered in blood.

She was beautiful.

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Irina POV [D2, F, 16]

I stood up from the screaming career in front of me and did my best to hide my smirk. The head trainer ran our way and shoved me away. I stopped myself from chopping her arms off. "I was just defending myself", I said, "She threw a spear at me."

Marti and Scarlet came to us as well, and confirmed my statement. The head trainer looked at the bleeding girl in front of us with barely hidden disdain and finally ordered an avox to alert the doctors. When they brought her to the center hospital, I asked Reid why Eve attacked me. He had a grim look, and I had the feeling he just realized something. "She was jealous", he said. I looked at him, stunned; I knew what that meant, but my brain couldn't quite process the thought.

"Of me? Because…" He just nodded. "YI think you know what I want to say." "That- that's SICK", Marti said through gritted teeth. We looked at the blood on the floor. I guess even careers have some ethic rules, even though killing is normal for them, incest isn't. But the fact that Eve had a reason to be jealous made my heart skip a beat or two. Reid sure as hell was a hot guy and unlike the people in my District, he understood why I had no problem with killing.

"So you wanted to go trident fighting?" I asked Reid. He nodded and the remaining careers and I headed to the trident training station. Even though I'd never tried before. I mastered level 8, but level 9 was a challenge to great for me. Yet I did well, and I saw that I impressed the district 1 tributes. "You're a real natural", Scarlet said, "but do you have any weakness?" I already knew hers: the machete. "I'm bad with bow and arrow", I replied.

She looked at me with a thoughtful expression. "Well… if I'd teach you how to use bow and arrow, would you help me to improve my machete skills?" She smiled at me, and I saw the self-confidence in her eyes. I shook her extended hand and smiled back. "You've got yourself a deal", I replied, and we headed to the machete station.

A plan began forming in my mind.

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

I watched as the girls went to the machete station and Irina explained how to properly use the weapon. Staring at her made me feel a little strange- she had just hurt Eve, a well trained, well-fed career with ease- nothing commonplace. But Scarlet's behavior was a little strange. She'd never teach another tribute, no matter if other career or anyone else.

So why did she agree to teach someone in the career alliance, someone who already posed a huge threat? Scarlet's eyes were set on Irina as the tribute sliced another moving dummy into pieces. Suddenly I understood- she wasn't going to let Irina survive the bloodbath.

She had made a dumb mistake- the district 2 girl was much better with weapons, and actually pretty smart. She couldn't be tricked into some barely hidden trap like this. And then it hits me, again: she was going to kill Scarlet on an instant, as soon as they entered the arena.

He felt a little dumb, as that non-career had a much better understanding of the situation than I did, seeing through this in mere seconds. I was fine with her killing my sister- I couldn't let her survive. Irina was definitively the female tribute leaving the arena. And I was going to be the male one.

I carefully eyed the sword fighting station until I decided to simply do it. I slashed every training dummy they had. If nothing else, I was perfect with my sword.

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Drake Michigan POV [D3, M, 12]

We spent the second day pretty much like the first, with one exception only: after studying the edible plants and trying to improve our fire-making skills, my sister dragged me to the knife-throwing station. The trainer eyed us, and then gave us the smallest knifes, explaining how to throw them.

Unexpectedly, I did quite good, at least hitting the target every time. My sister was doing worse, though, and missed the target most times. So she went to the climbing station whilst I continued practicing. I turned when I felt someone stare at me, hoping that it would not be the careers, anyone but them, to find out it was the boy from two, the rat-like idiot who lost his footing at the reaping ceremony.

I was shocked that I thought of him in that despising way, and thought that with a sister like his, he could've never grown up right. I abandoned knife throwing and joined my sister on the climbing course again.

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Rea POV [D5, F, 18]

My wish- not returning to the fire making station- was respected, so the twins, my brother and I went to the weaponry stations. After a little while, though, it was suggested that we'd return to survival stations again- after seeing the District 2 girl, whose pants were blood-splattered already, slicing a robot and destroying it in less than a few seconds, I just wanted to avoid the careers.

The twins suggested going to the abandoned knot making station, and we were happy to agree. But soon we realized there was not that much to do. We already dealt with fire-making and edible plants; knot-making was too boring for the twins after a few minutes, so the only thing that was left was the climbing course that was occupied by the District 3 tributes.

"They'll leave as soon as they see us", Dylan said, so we went there. They really seemed to disappear as soon as we climbed up. What looked quite easy in the beginning- holding on to ropes- had proven to be pretty exhausting in the end. My arms ached and the muscles felt like stone- weighed and immobile.

The twins suffered from the same problem, but I saw they tried to hide it. That would be a problem- their pride and the connection they shared. Neither of them was happy with this alliance, and I saw the boy eyeing us cautiously a few times.

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**A/N: Finally it's here, the newest chappie! Well, I decided to definitively kill one of the District 3 tributes and the male from 5 because they are either too weak or lame(male from 5 whose name I can't remember even though you're product of my own mind, I'm talking to you!) to survive. The little children from 3 may be likeable, but this is how the Games are played, isn't it? Well, anyway, I noticed I never wrote any disclaimers, so fuck disclaimers, everyone knows that none of this great concept belongs to me aside from my beloved characters. Well, I'm done for today, so review and vote for people to survive. Since I'm too busy fiddeling with my new piercing,** **or trying to Keep it from infecting, see you next week (I hope)!**


	5. The Training (Day 3 - with scores)

**The Training – Day 3**

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

I couldn't wait to show the Gamekeepers my skills, I just knew it was going to be awesome. I was the youngest boy to ever volunteer for my District, and I was going to make them proud, all of them. My dead sister had scored a nine in training, and I was determined to be even better.

"Marti Cole, 1", a mechanic voice said and I stood up to enter the training room, leaving the other Careers and the other shivering, intimidated tributes behind me, a smile on my face. The doors opened automatically, and I stepped into the training room, directly heading towards the sword station.

I turned on a dummy, choosing level 9 and grabbing my sword, the silver one I had used the past days. The dummy attacked me, and I dodged the blow easily, slamming the knife into his back, right where my opponent's spine would've been, and then slicing the rubber head of the dummy shoulders, sending in on the ground.

The Gamekeepers applauded. "Well done, boy", one shouted, and then I was dismissed. I left the room through another door on the other side of the room, briefly wondering if this one had really been there before. Sadly, I couldn't walk past the other tributes to intimidate them yet again, I thought with a smirk forming on my lips.

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Scarlet POV [D1, F, 18]

After my brother left, I watched the other tributes. Some seemed confident, others scared and others were downright panicking.

The slum rat from 5, the scrawny little boy who I was pretty sure was crippled, as he couldn't run well, was staring at the ground wide eyed, his grey eyes shimmering with tears and fear, his gaze lifting from the ground to stare at the others from time to time.

The twins from 6, who I had considered to get into the alliance as well, kept their cool. I would've watched more tributes, but my name was called. I stood up, waiting for the doors to automatically open, and then stepped inside, eyeing the weapons cautiously.

For a few seconds I was tempted to show my sword skills, but my brother must've done that before, and I wouldn't be able to impress them if the show I gave them was less good than my little brother's – thus, I headed towards the bows, all lined up, and picked a random one with some arrows.

Turning on the moving targets, I watched as the dummies started moving, ready to dodge. The three of them were down with three arrows, each one hitting a vital area.

The Gamekeepers applauded and praised me, but I didn't listen. I had imagined these targets to be this idiot girl from 2 who managed to seduce my fellow career. Granted, she was good with a machete, but I didn't want that bitch in our alliance. I left with a fake smile as they dismissed me, to follow my brother and meet him in our condo.

We watched the scores together. Marti got a ten, making him jump up and down and bump his fists into the air, pounding on his chest. I smiled for him; he was really doing well, especially for a 14-year-old. When my score was shown – a 10, like his – I laughed. We didn't deserve any less, though, thus I wasn't too thrilled about it.

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Toby POV [D2, M, 16]

I shivered as my name was called up, and almost tried to open the mechanic doors per hand, earning me the chuckles of the careers – and my darling little sister's. She was going to get a higher score than me, I already knew that, but I wouldn't be able to stand her mocking me.

I finally stepped into the room, making my way without a look at the men above me on the balcony to the edible plant station, sorting them, all 20, into the right categories. Afterwards I started a fire with flint and tinder.

The Gamekeepers didn't look all that impressed, but at least they payed attention. I was dismissed with a murmur, and left the room, suddenly wondering if I should've learned how to use a weapon in the training sessions. The thought of my sister killing me sent chills down my back.

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Irina POV [D2, F, 16]

I watched my brother leaving, of COURSE doing something stupid in the progress, and looked at the other tributes. Reid next to me gave a self-confident smirk. "Nervous", he asked and I grinned. "Just scouting our competition."

His sister Eve sat at the other end of the room, glaring at us. Her leg had been fixed, but she still couldn't run as well as before.

The little children from 3 were trying to keep their cool, but I could see how desperate they were. It wouldn't be as much fun to kill them as it would be to kill the others. Not because I pitied them, but they were no challenge.

My name was called, thank goodness, and I entered the room confidently, I knew I could do this. I already had a plan on what to do, thus I grabbed my machete and turned on three dummies at once, on the highest level. The Gamekeepers looked bored, didn't pay as much attention as I wanted them to.

"I understand you're bored, as my brother just showed his nonexistent skills, but if you want a show no, you better be watching closely", I yelled at them - how DARE they ignore me? Now most of them were at least eyeing me closer, so I started the dummies. They came at me full-blast, and I dodged their blows so I stood right behind the three, backstabbing the first one, cutting the second's machete arm off. The rest was easy, dodging and slicing. In less than five minutes, the three dummies were down and I grinned, this had been awesome and I was more than pleased.

The applause from the Gamekeeper's balcony told me they were impressed, really impressed. I gave them a confident, arrogant grin, something I might make my trademark facial expression, and left the room when I was dismissed.

Later I had to sit down next to the ferret, and kept my distance as we watched the training scores. When my brother's name appeared on-screen, the score was 5. A laugh escaped my lips, and neither our mentor's annoyed glance, the escort's pursed lips or my brother's glare could make me stop. The number 10 appearing next to my name though, actually managed to shut me up; I 'playfully' sucker punched mybrother in the arm, making sure he felt the blow. I was thrilled and happy, and I knew the time in the arena would be awesome.

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Drake POV [D3, M, 12]

I didn't know what to think when I entered the room; my sister had given me pep talk, so at least I didn't collapse. I just wished she was here with me, would wrap her slender arms around me and give me the courage to do this. But on the other hand, I couldn't rely on her, not in the Hunger Games.

Thus I headed to the throwing knife station, picked up the knifes and positioned myself in front of the immobile targets. Like in training, all the other thoughts vanished from my mind as I flung the knifes, better than I did before. I had built some muscle, not much, but more than I had back home, thus I was able to throw the knifes with more force. Four of five hit the lethal area, and on missed it by an inch, and was only fatal.

Looking up at the Gamekeepers, I saw some were watching, and they dismissed me. But I had deserved better, I thought. I was good and they should know!

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Mina POV [D3, F, 13]

I was trying really hard to keep my composure as the fourth tribute disappeared into the training room, the girl that was so good with the machetes. It would be my turn when my brother was gone, and all I could do was climbing. "I'm nervous", my little brother whispered almost inaudible.

"Calm down", I whispered back, squeezing his hand reassuringly, "you are really good with the throwing knifes, and you can climb. Show them what you've got. I bet you'll get a higher score than me." His mood seemed to lighten, and that was when his name was called.

I just hoped he'd impress them. I knew he was good at throwing knifes, but I also knew the Gamekeepers had to look at him to see this. After another while that felt like an eternity, my name was called.

I entered the training room, and smiled at the Gamekeepers. It was a lucky coincidence that they were watching at all, it was most likely because another career district would follow.

Using the limited time I had, I quickly sorted the edible berries, had all of them right and then went towards the climbing course, finishing it as fast as possible. When I was sitting on the end platform and should climb down, I realized I could leap and hang on the chandelier, and then jump down onto the mats laid out for one-on-one fighting. Without thinking, I did so, and looked up to see some of them were at least surprised.

When we watched the scores later, there were no surprises, until they showed my brother's score. A seven! I hugged him, and I felt myself tear up. For someone like him, scrawny and small and so young, this was an excellent score. I was keeping an eye out for my score, though, and grinned widely as I saw it was a six. "Told you you'd be better than me", I smiled.

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Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

After Irina was gone, all that was left to do was returning my sister's glares. I knew she wouldn't be capable of fighting at her actual level, and he was going to embarrass her by telling the Gamekeepers about who she really was and how fucked up her mind was. She was going to pay.

I went inside, and with their curious glances on me, I finished off a few dummies with my trident, all on the highest level and I did so without breaking a sweat or panting. They dismissed me, but I intervened: "I have something to say about my sister."

With their permission, I continued: "You all know she started a fight with the female from District 2", I began, "but the reason she did it was because she was jealous. She is an incestuous bitch and does not deserve a score higher than 1!"

With their shocked glances and the sound of a glass breaking on the hard concrete floor I left the room. I'd probably regret this, but I couldn't allow my sister to get any sponsors.

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Eve POV [D4, F, 16]

I entered the room once being called in, and was shocked by the atmosphere. At first, they eyed me suspiciously, but then the first hostile comment reached my ears, and whilst I sliced a few dummies on level 8, not being able to fight on level nine any longer, I had a very, very bad feeling, as voices calling me names I don't want to recall rose, getting louder and louder.

"What's wrong?" My voice sounded more defensive than offensive, not the way I wanted it. Their voices, their insults rose up and filled the room, and once I heard the word 'incest' I knew what was going on.

He told them. He must've finally realized I loved him, but instead of being touched by the depth of my feeling or even loving me back, he told my so closely guarded secret. I began to tear up again, my mind running through everything he could've said, and without noticing, I slammed the trident I was still holding into the ground, so deep that it didn't fall down when I let go of the handle.

I was dismissed, I knew that, and tuned out the chorus of insults, running into our condo, into my room to calm down.

When I exited it, it was time to watch the scores. The mentors and our escort as well as the stylists didn't understand the tension. Her brother scored a nine, and she waited for her score, expecting it to be somewhat around 6. She did well with the trident, and shouldn't they respect that? Her score was 1. She screamed out in desperation – everyone would beat her, even the two children from 3 had beaten her! She threw a fit and punched the couch as everyone stared at her or the screen in shock. Only her brother smiled a devilish smile that no one seemed to notice.

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Tristan POV [D5, M, 14]

I knew when the female from 4 went in that I didn't stand a chance, not at all. All he could do was lighting a fire, but that wouldn't save him, neither in the session nor in the arena. So he waited, knowing that the menacing girl in there was probably showing off her trident fighting skills, which were truly amazing.

A feeling of fear and utter despair formed a knot in his chest, a deep, painful wound, as bad as the things the careers would do to him, and a lump formed in his throat. He didn't want to cry right now, and eyed his sister who was eyeing the floor with glassy eyes, not on the verge of crying, but close nonetheless. This frightened him even more – his strong sister who had always been there for him was breaking, buckling under the pressure.

Soon enough, though, his name was called and he entered the room, only to see that the Gamekeepers weren't in a good mood at all. They whispered among themselves, and no one even payed attention to me. Thus I simply went to the fire making station and did my best to light a fire with two sticks. It felt a lot harder when I knew my life depended on it, as it was dependent on the score I'd make.

Once I had managed to light the sticks, he noticed one or two glances in his direction and was dismissed. A bad feeling, even worse than what Ifelt before the session, crept up and numbed me.

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Rea POV [D5, F, 18]

It felt as if icy needles were injected into my blood, ripping everything inside of me apart. I couldn't win them over with sorting berries into two categories. I knew I was at least decent with a spear, so why shouldn't I try?

I felt tears creeping up, but my brother's stare on me made me hold them in. When he left, though, I was one of the last three tributes in this room. And they were my allies, so I couldn't show any weakness. I straightened my back and stared at the doors, suddenly eager to escape the tension and get this over with.

"Rea Junes, District 5", the voice called me in. I tried to walk confidently, and saw that none of the Gamekeepers were actually paying attention. I took the spear and threw five at the dummies. Three hit the fatal and two the lethal areas, better than my score in training. I saw a few more watching me and threw another five; this time got four into the lethal parts of the dummy.

I was almost proud, as this would definitively grant me a better score than sorting through berries. I was dismissed.

When we watched the scores, I had to admit there were a lot of possible threats this year. Only the career girl getting a 1 confused me. Wasn't she the one who started a fight and got injured in training? Again, a picture of the violent girl from 2 appeared in my mind. But then my brother's score was shown. 4. He didn't look surprised, but my score certainly was a surprise: 7. He hugged me, and I felt both disbelief and joy surge through me. I was definitively worthy of allying up with the twins.

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Dylan POV [D6, M, 15]

When only my sister and I were left, she embraced me in a hug. "Show them your spear skills, don't forget!" I nodded, tense from the waiting and eager to finally do this. I knew she felt the same. "And you go for the machetes." She smiled. "I think we really stand a chance, you know", she grinned, and I nodded. That was when my name was called.

I entered the room and saw that none, really none of them even looked up. I grabbed a spear and yelled at them. "Hey, would you at least LOOK at me?!" Some heads tilted up and I threw my spear.

Lethal area, and their attention was on me, at least for now. I threw some more, each but one shot was lethal, killing on an instant. That's when I started feeling sassy and turned on the moving targets. 4 spears for three dummies, not bad either.

But I wasn't done; spears were a long distance weapon but could function as a middle-range weapon too. So I turned on one of the dummies on level 7 and brought it down in round about five minutes, without taking a single hit.

When I was dismissed, I made one last remark: "And don't you dare ignoring my sister", I grinned, leaving with the feeling of having made an impression.

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Reiko POV [D6, F, 15]

I could tell I had their attention from the moment I walked on in, curious eyes, and I wondered what my brother had done, because he definitively did _something_. They shouldn't be paying attention, and I hoped he didn't do anything that would point a target mark on his head.

Without further hesitation I walked to the machetes and noticed some stray pieces of dummies on the floor where the training dummies stood. 'District 2', I thought. She had been brutal, that was visible. I simply grabbed a weapon, turned on a dummy on level 8 – one level higher than in training – but to my dismay, he wasn't as easy to beat. I didn't take a single hit, but it took what felt like an eternity to take it down.

In the end it had been 3 minutes, but this was still a minute longer than my time in training. When the Gamekeepers didn't dismiss me, I walked towards the axes, neatly lined in the shelves. When no one was here at night, I came to train and chose this as my weapon. At first, I threw them, missing no target and four of five were lethal.

I was dismissed, and walked to the elevator, pushing the '6' button. When the doors opened, my brother directly hugged me and we walked towards the living room. It would take another hour for the scores to be telecasted, and we used the time to chill out.

Upon seeing our allies' scores, I asked my brother: "What do you think?" He looked me straight in the eye: "The boy is bloodbath material, and I certainly won't risk my life to save his ass when he is attacked by a career. The girl is good with spears, thus she makes a good ally, as long as she doesn't die whilst protecting her brother's life. Her name was Rea, wasn't it?" I nodded: "Tristan and Rea. And you're right, the boy is pathetic."

We watched their scores, she getting a 7 and he a 4, no surprises there. My brother and I got a similar score, an 8. Our escort and mentor were both super happy, but we knew one thing for sure: this year, there were really few weak tributes, and that really lowered our chances of survival. I had no idea where this would lead.

**A/N: So welcome back to this new chapter. *Sigh*... I somehow have the feeling this was even worse than what I usually produce. Tommorow, the last holiday weeks starts back here in Germany (and it's raining), so I won't be able to update as frequently. But the interview chapter is almost done, so I might upload it in a few days. And afterwards, the first Arena chappie! *SUPER EXCITED*. Again, if you have any requests for this ff, pm me or write a review. I will answer all the reviews I'll receive (same goes for PM). If my analysis of the Story traffic stat is right, there are five people who are reading this story. Thaaaanks to all of you :*** you are da beeest! **


	6. The Interviews

**The interviews**

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Scarlet POV [D1, F, 18]

I was the first one to be interviewed, and I would present myself as the strong, cunning career girl who has an enormous self-confidence, and of course, I was stunning and beautiful. I was wearing a silver dress that was mostly transparent and only the important areas were opaque. It was short and complimented my long and muscular legs as well as my ample chest. The color also complimented my pale complexion and dark red hair. The color of my eye shadow matched the color of my dress; it was just a little darker. My lips were lightly rose colored and my cheekbones had been highlighted with a silver color as well.

When I entered the stage, everybody cheered, a deafening roar filled the stadium. "It's great to have you here tonight, Scarlet Annerose", Aurelius greeted her and I smirked at him and the crowd. "Well, it's truly great to finally see the Capitol and it's lovely citizens", I replied, earning me another applause and some whistles. Aurelius beamed and continued with the questions.

"May I ask, what is your plan for the games? You volunteered with your brother, but you can't both leave the arena." This earned him a grin. "Well, we decided not to think about it yet. But let me tell you, I am capable of anything I need to do to win this thing!" Aurelius nodded.

"You got a great training score, that is to be said. One of the best." I smiled yet again. "I deserved no less, and I'm sure that you'll agree with me." Another applause. I loved playing with these dumb Capitolietes. "May I ask what you did to deserve this?"

That question would be harder to answer – if I'd straightforward tell him, I'd back up my confident behavior, and my opponents already knew. "Well, I am excellent with bow and arrow. And I already called dips on it, should there be one in the Cornucopia. But I am sure there is, I mean, you love me too much to take my chances, don't you?" Laughter about my joke rose into the air, real laughter.

"So tell me, Scarlet", he said, emphasizing my name, "has your name been inspired by your beautiful hair color, or was this a lucky coincidence?" I cocked my head. "As amusing as that might sound, it was. The actual plan was to name me Annerose, but when I was born, I already had some hair on my head, and they could see the color. Since red hair is rare in my beloved District, my parents decided to give me Scarlet as a first name", I smiled.

This was when I heard the buzzer and left the stage, waving at the audience, making sure my breasts were well visible and in movement whilst I did so. A confident smirk crept up onto my face as I exited the spotlight.

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

My sister left the stage after a great interview, and I saw she was happy about how things went, but had expected no less. Amazed by her confidence, I entered the stage, everybody cheered for me. "And welcome the younger brother of the beauty we have just interviewed, dear citizens of Panem, I give you Marti Cole!" Great, they were already associating me with her. I wanted to make a name for myself.

"Marti, tell us", Aurelius began, "you are the youngest volunteer your district has ever had. What made you do this? Have you had this plan beforehand, or did you decide to go in when they announced the Quarter Quell?" This one is easy. "I've planned to volunteer at this age to prove myself." Aurelius hints a story, and asks more questions.

"Prove yourself to whom, exactly?" This one is easier. I can't wait to tell about my sister. I can't wait for them to experience the tragic – and sponsor me. "To my district and mostly, to my family. You see, my eldest sister has volunteered for the games four years ago, Leila Cole, but she was killed by a fellow career. My parents were incredibly sad, and I chose to make it up to them."

The crowd seems to remember my sister; she was one of the favorites the year she participated. Beautiful, strong and cunning, just as my other elder sister is. "That… is really sad. I understand why you volunteered, and I am sure all of us are with you!" The roar I earn appears to be even louder than what my sister has gotten, but that probably just feels that way because I am on stage now and don't wait in the room behind me.

"Well then, Marti, tell me, what is _your _plan for the arena?" I know that this is supposed to be an answer for what my sister has said, thus I choose my words carefully. "My sister has already said she'd do anything to come out of these Games victorious, but I'm not sure if she is capable of doing so. Because my drive, I know that, is much stronger than hers." I didn't mind fronting her like this, as Irina would probably kill her off in the bloodbath.

The buzzer stops the interview before Aurelius is able to respond, and I exit the stage, not without blowing a kiss at the female audience. I am only fourteen years old, but I know for sure they'd die for me anytime soon. Too bad that I won't touch them. My family meant nothing to me, they would threaten me to kill them for sure, but honestly, I didn't mind. May my mother die; I'd laugh my ass off.

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Irina POV [D2, F, 16]

I made my way onstage, and was greeted with applause quite loud for someone not coming from a career district. I smiled confidently, as I looked so much better than at the chariot rides: I was basically wearing a white bikini with bleached, white leather straps dangling from it, and a golden grass was woven into my hair, a golden laurel wreath on top. I looked really good in this outfit, and the Capitol crowd seemed to like it, too.

"Irina Neiva, ladies and gentlemen", Aurelius called out. I smiled at him, and realized that I was not the least bit nervous. In fact, I was born for this. "Irina", he asked, "will you tell us how you got that amazing score?" I grin. "Well, we have a piggery back home, and I always killed off the animals with machetes or throwing knifes. So these two weapons are the ones I called dips on, if I may copy Scarlet in here", I smiled. The applause told me they were starting to love me. It was unexpected for a girl from 2 to be charming… or memorable at all.

"It is amazing, that is to be admitted", Aurelius smiled. "What do you think about the Career alliance", he asked now without further ado. Again, this made me smile. Thanks for asking all these perfect questions, I thought. "Well, before I answer that you'll need to know that I already joined, and thus I have to say that this year's alliance is particularly strong."

Now Aurelius wants to know more about my personal life – but first, compliments please: "That's amazing! Congratulations!" The audience cheered super loudly. "We all saw that you and your brother don't exactly get along. How comes, though?" This one was even better; I'd get to disgrace my elder brother in front of all Panem – again. This interview was so good, and I had been right to not be the least bit nervous. I almost laughed out loud, but that would've destroyed the act.

"You see, Aurelius, he actually is my elder brother, and thus always behaved like I was his slave. He told me to do his chores, treated me like scum. And I don't accept that." I thought about my next words carefully. "He will pay for what he's done."

Aurelius senses potential there. "What HAS he done, though?" I sigh, faked of course, in actuality I am thrilled. "He made up things about me, spread rumors, told my parents whenever I made the slightest mistake, distorting the events whilst doing so, and stalked me whenever I was with a boy…" I make a pause and when I look up I can see the cameras zooming in. I made no part up of what I said. "I look forward to killing you, Toby." Malevolence and hatred were all over my face.

The buzzer signals the end of my interview. I sucker punch my brother as he enters the stage, an evil grin distorting my features.

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Toby POV [D2, M, 16]

This little bitch ruined my interview beforehand – how dare she do that?! People were booing when I entered the stage already, and I didn't know what to do. My heart dropped; what should I say to Aurelius when he asked me about this? Should I lie? Should I simply utter my thoughts? I decided to save whatever I could save.

"Tell us, Toby, what do you think about what your sister said?" I looked up at him, pretending to be hurt and hiding my fury. "I don't know why she should say something like that", I murmured. Aurelius looked at me curiously, and I noticed that the booing had gotten a little less loud. "So what she said was a lie?"

Breaking point, I thought, if I'd say 'lie' the people might think I am the one lying. I did all that, but she deserved it! She treated me like scum, even though she should've respected me. "I did it to protect her", I started slowly, but angry screams stopped me from speaking further. If this would continue, the time would be up before I'd even get the chance to say anything more. "She lived her life in danger, she ran away several times, and she was mean to me! She dated the guys from whom I knew they'd hurt her!"

My outburst surprised even me; I never thought I'd be able to pretend like this. She did all this, but after she treated me like scum, I wanted revenge, I wanted to get back at her for still being everyone's darling. My parents liked her better, even though I always did what they wanted me to. Girls laughed at me, boys bullied me, and the elder kids even spat at me when I got near them in the desperate attempt to avoid my classmates. Younger kids thought of me as a creepy freak. No one wanted me, and it was _her_ fault.

"I see, so why did you never tell her?" There it was; my chance to not lose their sympathy completely, maybe even gain some. What should I say now? Before I got the chance to even think about it, the buzzer signaled the end of the interview, leaving me speechless and unable to further defend myself. When I got back to the room in the back, my sister sucker punched me – again – and congratulated me with words as sweet and sticky as honey mixed with blood: "Well done, ferret! I am _so proud of you!_"

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Mina POV [D3, F, 12]

After the first four interviews, I was super nervous and when I entered the stage, people suddenly went silent. The interview costumes didn't have that much to do with the district anymore, so I was wearing a very light, fluttering white dress to compliment my skin color and fairy like exterior. My stylist said I looked a lot like Rue, a famous former tribute that had been very close to Katniss Everdeen, the national hero.

The audience started to cheer once they realized of whom I reminded them, not as loud as for the careers, but still it was a decent volume that almost knocked me out. "Well, Mina, welcome on stage!" I gave him a small smile and tried to hide how unnerving this was. "So how did you like the Capitol till now?" His question made me think. 'Play it sweet'.

"It's been sooo good to me, Aurelius. This is more than I ever dared to hope for." She gave him a melancholic, sad smile. "It really helps to get over the fact that I'm…" Aurelius looked at her. "That you're going to die? How can you say that?" His eyes were filled with genuine concern – or at least that's what it looked like. But for now I was too happy to think that someone was caring about me. "Well, I… I've forced my brother into these games. I owe him to get him out again. So don't give him up." He nodded.

"Never, Mina, we'll never do. But why did you choose him?" This one was the question I had to think long and hard about. But I decided to simply tell the truth. "My mother needed my elder brother, if he'd have died in the arena, they would have starved." Aurelius looked at me with sad eyes. "So he is your younger brother, right? I understand that you want to protect him."

"I don't think I can do much, though, he is way better than me. All I can do is dying for him." Aurelius's sadness was faked, I was aware of that, but this calm, soothing eyes kept me from fainting right now. The faint sobs from the Capitol audience helped to make me believe I wasn't doing that badly.

In this very second, I was so surprised to hear the buzzer I almost jumped. But I remained calm and left the stage, hearing my applause and hoping I had done well enough to ensure my brother's life.

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Drake POV [D3, M, 13]

When my sister left the stage, I realized what she had done. She had saved my life, and gave me a chance to look strong. And she looked like that girl from District 11, who died in the 74th Hunger Games. But I wouldn't allow her to die for me. "Drake Michigan, from District 3", Aurelius announced me when I entered the stage, smiling as confident as possible.

"Tell us, Drake", Aurelius started directly, "your training score was amazing for a person of your size and age." Should I tell? My mentor said no, I'd have to surprise them. I smile and reply. "I found some talents during training." The only problem is that I am a little too nervous to act confident. My voice trembles and my knees shake, and I see on the screens that it is well visible.

"Mina told us she chose you over your brother because of her family. Tell us though, are you angry at your sister?" Dangerous waters ahead, something inside of me screamed. But even thinking about it made me tear up. "I…" A small sob escaped my lips, and Aurelius looked at me with concern I almost mistook for real.

I screwed up though; starting to cry in your interview marks you as an easy target. I straightened my back, and attempted to speak again. The cameras concentrated on my watery eyes, though, and the thought of my sister hugging me made my throat ache. Thus my voice sounded horrible, to quiet and weak to transport any other message than 'I want to die'.

"I could never blame her", I said taking a deep breath, "because I would've done the same in her situation. I…" This time I choked on my words, and tears fell freely. I saw my mentor shaking his head, and my escort gave me a reassuring, but sad smile. This didn't help at all. Aurelius patted my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down.

"I have always relied on her. I can't let her sacrifice herself for me." I cut off any other question Aurelius might've wanted to ask and spoke for myself, but I couldn't have cared less. I gritted my teeth, wiped my tears away and looked at the audience. That was when the buzzer signaled the end. I tried to walk off the stage confidently, but I almost fell because of my shaking knees.

When I entered the backstage room, slender arms wrapped around me and escorted me out of the room.

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Eve POV [D4, F, 16]

When I watched the little wimp fail I realized that the strategy I had planned could eventually backfire. I couldn't deny anything of what he'd say, as I couldn't counterattack – my interview was first. Thus I decided on a different strategy – I'd simply tell the truth. They'd understand, would they? The Capitolietes did so stupid things… incest was probably a trend right now.

I stared at my high heels that were well visible beneath my transparent mermaid costume, and thought about how he'd react. Would he finally realize that we belonged together? Would he finally see how much I loved him, and would he accept that love? He should, I thought, completely sure of it. There was nothing wrong. 'He'll love me back and ditch the slut from 2', I thought. There's no way he won't.

"Hey, cripple bitch! You've been called!" I already knew who shouted that through the whole room, and my former alliance chuckled. I saw the little wimp in his sister's arms and got up, almost falling to my knees and my dress caught in my heels and it ripped a little. Face flushed, I staggered onto stage.

"Eve Ira", Aurelius greeted me. "Tell us, is the Capitol the way you imagined it?" I nodded, smiling brightly. Yet I had to walk a little more slowly than I should've, and Aurelius noticed. "Oh my, don't rush it. Have you been hurt during training?" They knew already, the training was telecasted too. They all saw how that bitch almost killed me with the machete. God, I hated her.

"I had a little fight, nothing special", I answered, still smiling. "What was it about? We saw that you attacked first." I sighed. "She has a little thing going on with my brother", - they already knew – "but I won't allow that." Aurelius face lit up with understanding and then with an emotion I probably should've expected.

Waves of disgust mirroring the interviewer's facial expression shook the crowd and screaming erupted. I stood there, silently, watching the crowd scream and shout names I didn't want to hear, I didn't deserve. They knew nothing. I had loved him longer than anyone else did. I had never doubted him (aside from that one time in the train, but that was something different). I deserved him, and I would get him.

The buzzer was barely audible over the disgusted crowd. Tears lined my face as I left.

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Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

I had the plan to reveal her abnormality to everyone. I had the plan to ruin her reputation and steal the rest of her sponsors, if there were any remaining at all. I didn't plan on her ruining my plan. And I didn't plan on her being so dumb to fuck up all by herself. In fact, this was even better. No one would accuse me of doing this for sponsors or for the show. No, she just HAD to tell the truth in front of all Panem. Hilarious.

Still smiling about her dumbness, I entered the stage and took a place in the comfy chair that was waiting there for me. Aurelius still looked quite shocked and disgusted. I hope this wasn't backfiring on me. "Reid, you sister has confessed her feelings for you." He tried hard to hold his disgust in lined. I didn't. "She's sick. I would kill her without second thought in the arena, but she belongs to Irina."

Looking relieved, the interviewer decided to investigate on the other, normal girl in my life - he always does, the Capitolietes crave lovestories. But this wasn't a lovestory. "Irina Neiva from 2, is it? Is she your girlfriend or something?" Be cool, Reid. No sappy love story, keep this on the animalistic level it should be on. "I'd go with or something, Aurelius." His eyes widened before he gave me a hearty slap on the shoulders. "You dog, you!" I gave him a wicked smile.

"There are no displays of romantic feelings. We just share a passion." I knew they wanted sappy romance stuff, but I couldn't say what they wanted to hear. She'd kill me, and she'd enjoy it. Yet she needed to know. I never told her, but she needed to know. "A passion? Are we gonna get to hear your bedroom stories?" Irina's face was all over the displays, a murderous grin parting her face.

"No, not at all." Sighs and booing people. "Sorry to disappoint you, but our passion is murder." Cheers and laughter, and encouraging yells. Do these people actually _feel_ anything? Or do they do what they think they have to do and display what they think they should feel? If I'd cut them open, would I find stony insides? I should try that after we'd have won.

"Murder? I don't think I understand…" I grin. "Oh, imagine it to be art. You compose a melody with, screams, pleas, begging and laughter, you paint a picture with corpses, blood and gore; you show people the passion in a deadly dance called fight. You know that this is what you were born to do, and you have someone who feels the exact same thing."

The buzzer interrupts my thoughts and the people scream and cheer so loudly that I think my ears will never hear as good as they used to. Passion always gets people excited, and I just placed a burning, devouring, lustful flame in their chests, making them crave for seeing me and my fellow monster in action.

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Rea POV [D5, F, 18]

The interviews before my own were so rattling, I knew that mine wouldn't be as interesting, and they wouldn't pay attention. I basically stood no chance at all, but the no attention part would probably benefit my brother. His face was pale and he was shaking, I doubted he'd be able to say anything. I couldn't play the caring sister card, because the girl from 3 had done that too, so I'd just have to speak for myself.

The thoughts before your interview are always the worst. I over-thought my strategy countless times, and wondered if I shouldn't say anything to support my brother, but decided against it every time. It wasn't my fault he was in here, why should I support him? Sure, he was only 15 years old, but he had allowed himself to show weakness. The boy from 3 was only 12 years old, but Tristan was 15. he should know better.

When I was called on stage, I put on a charming smile, and the screens showed it was moderately well looking. I didn't appear to be as nervous as I actually was. "Rea", Aurelius greeted me. "I'm so happy to have you here tonight!" 'Of course you are, idiot, you have to be. And I have to be here. I know you despise me', I thought, but I widened my smile. "It is a pleasure to be here", I said as calmly as I could.

'Be reserved, calm and polite', my mentor had said. I could do that. In fact, that was what I would've done anyway. "Rea, you surprised us all with your training score", he stated. "May I ask what you did?" Calm. Polite. Reserved. I wanted to scream right in his face that he shouldn't underestimate me. These people really got the best of me.

"Well, I am certain some of the sponsors underestimated me", I began, smiling politely, "but you shouldn't. I have some pretty decent talents, but I will keep them hidden for now." When I saw the interviewer's disappointed face, I added: "I'd just love to surprise you!" Like a little girl, I thought. Awful. The time in the Capitol really changed me. I started caring for me instead of others. And I wanted to leave these horrid Games alive.

"We saw you were really close to you brother. Are you planning to let him win?" I decided to be honest. "I want to leave like everyone else does." When did reserved turn into emotionless, and calm into icy spikes? "But if it comes down to the two of us, I don't know what I will do." My voice was calm and soothing again. 'I can do that', I thought. The crowd watched, despite me thinking they wouldn't. They watched me with huge eyes. "We wish you the best of luck, Rea. May the odds be ever in your favor."

This sentence had belonged to the first 75 Hunger Games, and was now not a necessity any longer. In fact, no one ever said it. But now, I smiled at the crowd and earned an at least decent applause when the buzzer made me leave. For a girl from 5, this could've been worse.

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Tristan POV [D5, M, 15]

When my sister said she wanted to win, I started feeling nauseous. I had been nervous before, but this made my stomach topple over – almost. Throwing up in front of other tributes would've been worse than crying on-stage. The feeling of betrayal though was something I couldn't shake off that easily. It was her right, I shouldn't have expected her to put my life over hers, and was no right of mine, but yet… I thought she'd die for me. She had been my biggest chance of winning – and now she said she wouldn't sacrifice herself.

I was called onstage, and the dizzy feeling and nausea only got worse. "Tristan, how do you like the Capitol?" I smiled weakly and almost fell into the plush chair. "It's okay." Ouch, wrong answer. People started whispering and booing. That was when I couldn't hold breakfast any longer and threw up all over the marble floor of the stage.

The screams of disgust were almost as loud as the ones the incest girl got, and definitively louder than the screams for the rat boy from 2. Aurelius looked at me with carefully concealed disgust, but I saw laughter creeping up at the edges of his mouth, the same laughter that swept over the crowd. This was worse than throwing up in the backstage room and embarrassment heated my face. Tears dropped into the mess on the floor.

I realized only then I was no longer on my chair, but making a running to the backstage room to escape. I saw my sister's pitying eyes and that was when I passed out.

Reiko POV [D6, F, 15]

After the idiot had gotten his breakfast all over the podium, I had to wait for half an hour. The stage needed to be cleaned up, the interviewer needed to regain his composure and the crowd needed to calm down. "We'll ally with Rea, but not with that idiot!" My brother's voice was near my ear, and I nodded in agreement. The unconscious idiot was carried away till now and we approached his sister.

"We can't have him in the alliance." Her shocked look told us she wouldn't be either. "Look, he'll have to die anyway if you want to go home. We can't protect him, and we could finish the job quickly. Do you want the psychopath couple to lay hands on him?" When she realized what we were implying, her eyes went even wider and her mouth dropped. "I can't do that." "We will. You won't have to watch." I was called onstage, thus I didn't know what my brother said.

"Welcome onstage, Reiko! Are you nervous?" I gave the interviewer – I didn't ever bother to learn his name – a fake smile. "Not at all. I know I can do this." He looked surprised. "You sound rather confident, but I suppose you have a reason to be. That training score was extraordinary for someone from 6." We weren't the least favorite district, which was 5. But we weren't really better off either.

"Well, I guess we are somewhat extraordinary!" My grin looked fake, but the Capitol people laughed, amazed and surprised. I was not amused, though. I hated this. "You speak of you and your brother as a team. You two are quite close." I nodded. Of course he'd bring this up. Not a bad choice, and easy to answer. "We are twins, so I guess it's somewhat natural. We used to do everything together when we were kids." His smile slipped off his face and then his features showed worry. Did _anyone_ buy this act? No? Well, why doesn't this surprise me?

"What is your plan in the arena, then? You can't both make it out alive." Thanks for reminding us, I am capable of memorizing the rules of this game. "Well, we just hope one of us dies before the grand finale." He looked at me with skepticism. "You sure this'll work?" I laughed, as if he'd cracked a joke. "I know we both are good, but what are the odds we'll both make it?"

The idiot people in the crowd laughed too, and even the interviewer chuckled. "I admit, it makes sense. Reiko from District 6, Ladies and Gentlemen!" The buzzer was super relieving. I had done well, the huge applause told me so.

When I entered the room my brother asked me in a hushed voice: "What's the idiot's name? I forgot!" I grinned and chuckled, replying: "I dunno. It's not important, anyway. Then, he was called and left me, heading towards the last interview.

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Dylan POV [D6, M, 15]

My sister left and I turned towards the elder girl in front of me. "You can't both survive, and the odds would be higher for you. And could you really kill him off in the end?" She sighed. "Do it. He doesn't stand a chance anyway." She got up and paced around the room, and that made me think about the interview. I didn't even watch my sister's, she was good and I knew that. What I thought about was the interviewer's name.

The buzzer made me zone in again, and my sister entered. "What's the idiot's name? I forgot!" She chuckled at first instead of answering. The time was running out, and finally she said: "I dunno. It's not important, anyway." Thanks for the help, this was greatly appreciated. But she was right, no one needed to know. I was called up and put on my favorite confident smirk.

"And here he is: the last tribute for this year's interviews, Dylan Rhys!" The Capitolietes gave me a moderate cheer, and I grinned. They better be watching out. Some teens in the crowd, though, waved at me and I winked at them. They screamed even louder. "Well, well, Dylan; your sister already told us about your", he coughed, "complicated strategy. Anything you'd like to add?"

I grinned. "I guess we'll try not to die a painful death." Laughter, real laughter from the crowd. I almost chocked on my tongue, these people were disgusting. "And how will you do that, if I may ask?" This question was what I'd been waiting for. My sister and I plan things like this beforehand, and we think about cool answers for question that might be asked. I had an answer for this.

"How about not running into the psychopath lovers from 2 and 4?" Laughter, again, and again it was despicable. "Now _that_ sounds like a decent strategy!" The interviewer caught his breath. "Tell us more about you, though? Do you have a girlfriend back home?" Does he always ask this question? Yeah, he does that way too often.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I don't." "Oh really, a boy this good-looking must be a real lady's man!" I grinned at that. "Well, I guess none of the girls _back home_ attracted me. "So you have someone in here?" My grin widened. They were going to love me! I looked at the women in the audience, and many winked at me or threw flowers – they all looked disgusting. "Take a look around, and tell me!" The girls screamed and cheered, the noise shook the ground.

The idiot next to me laughed heartily. "I guess you can pick your girl if you get out alive!" I laughed with him. This felt so awful, how did my sister make it through this? "Well, not 'if, but 'when'. I'm sure you all want me winning!" The buzzer cut off any reply from the interviewer, but the audience screaming and women trying to get to the stage told me all I needed to know.

I nailed it.

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**A/N: I really, really hate the Boy from 5! He is sooo pathetic, but not every character in this fanfiction can be strong... anyway, I really put a lot of work in this chapter to deepen the characters and excuse myself for the crappy last chapter...**

**I have someone who followed and favorized this fanfiction! Seeing that in my emails almost made me cry - but I never cry, unless it's unavoidable... anyway, thanks to natalie1668, you are the best! :D Leave a review if you wanna ;)**

**NO NEED TO READ! JUST SOME EXTRA INFO -Next chappie will catapult us right into the Arena... this is gonna be interesting, and will be seperated in Days, some people's POV will be picked more than once in a chapter, and some POV's will not be picked, as there is nothing going on in their little, most likely short lifes. At the end of every Arena chapter there will be a list of all dead People, and in which chappie they died, by whom or what they were killed and how. **

**When I finish this fanfiction, I will most likely write some oneshots about how Irina kills Eve, her brother Toby and Scarlet, because These Scenes will be skipped over in here, as they are gonna be splatter and torture - we all know she loves to play with her prey! ;)**

**I will also post a chappie with Information about the arena and the tributes, containing a description, the number of sponsors a tribute has, their strength and a strength rating, so you can use that if you want to vote (so yeah... you're basically betting like the Capitol People... creepy, isn't it? Well then, VOTE!)**


	7. The Arena - Day 1

The Arena – Day 1

Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

I stared at the golden Cornucopia in front of me when the plate was lifted upwards and I entered my true home: the arena. 60 seconds to adjust to the surroundings – we were surrounded by a savanna-like area, dotted with a few small patches of forest to hide in.

Right next to me I spotted Irina, and for a second, she looked back, insanity making her eyes glisten, her lips twitched into the distorted parody of a smile. I had forgotten how similar we were. Then she fixated on the Cornucopia, and I followed her gaze, spotting two tridents right in the opening, along with many, many bags.

Ten feet from me I saw a dull looking dagger on the ground, and I decided to grab that first. I remembered what Irina had once said when we were talking about weapons: dull blades inflict more pain. She was a dull blade, had to fight to break through and left a painful mess of destroyed flesh instead of clean cuts, she was pointless destruction.

The time was over, and my legs carried me towards the Cornucopia, I picked up the dull blade along the way. I passed a small boy who had slowed down to grab a backpack, and buried the dull blade in his stomach several times, and then leaving him alive, but fatally wounded.

A girl that had been watching, frozen in shock and horror something that occurred at the Cornucopia, started running and threw her brother some backpacks, and I pulled her back. "Where do you think you're going?" I watched as her brother threw her a last glance and then ran off, with the tributes from 5. "He left you", I grinned and she started screaming and trashing. I left her dead on the floor. Adrenaline was flowing through my veins, and ecstasy made me dizzy – in a good way.

The other careers had already reached the Cornucopia, and I saw my sister sneaking off with a trident and a backpack. I was going to make a run for her, but Irina did that for me, and threw a knife that hit her in her lower left leg. She missed? Irina's laugh told me she did it on purpose. But when she turned around and let her go, I started wondering. She read my thoughts already, smirked and said: "Let her go, she'll take out some competition, but won't be a match for us with that wound. We'll have fun with her later."

Only then I noticed the bow in her hand, and Scarlet did so too. "I called dips on that thingy…" Her voice was sweet, and I saw the knife in her hand, carefully concealed from Irina's view. But my girl simply stepped forward and drove the machete through her body. When Scarlet's eyes widened, she laughed in pleasure, and I smirked at the sight of her. She was covered in blood, not only Scarlet's, but someone else's too.

She threw the weapon to the dying girl and chuckled. "It's all yours, sweetheart." She thought about it for a second and added: "Your blood clashes with you hair color." Marti, Scarlet's brother, looked horrified, and Irina gave him a challenging glare. "Any problems with this?" He shook his head.

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Reiko POV [D6, F, 15]

I sprinted forward as planned, reached the Cornucopia in mere seconds, picking up a dull dagger and two backpacks. When I made my way back, I watched as Irina cut her defenseless brother into pieces, and stopped running, feeling the urge to gag and staring in horror. Bad mistake, I felt someone behind me closing up.

Without thinking, I threw the backpacks towards my brother, and he caught them. I saw the weapon in his hand; he'd come and save me. "Where do you think you're going?" A strong arm pulled me back – the boy from 4. My brother caught the backpacks, but instead of saving me, he ran away with ones from 5. I felt betrayed, and I knew he saw that.

When he didn't turn around again, it made me feel bad. He couldn't have saved me, but now he thought I was angry at him! "He's left you", the boy taunted. Only then my instincts kicked in, and I tried to wriggle out of his grasp. I caught a glimpse of his girlfriend who filled a bag with her brother's limps to make it easier for the Hovercraft to pick him up, and I realized I didn't want to die that way.

I trashed and screamed and kicked, and I was almost glad that he went directly for the throat, and the pain was limited to that. My vision faded, and a small smile formed on my lips. My brother made it. He stood a chance and the girl from 5 was at his side. He'd make it.

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Irina POV [D2, F, 16]

My brother's blood and now Scarlet's was all over me, and started to dry. Marti, smarter than he looked like, didn't step up when I killed his sister – she had that small, badly hidden knife and would've killed me, but even if she wouldn't have tried, killing was too much fun. And she was the only other female in this arena who could've questioned my authority. I had decided I'd be the girl to leave the arena, and I'd have Reid by my side. There had been no place for that bitch, whether she wanted me dead or not.

"How many kills did you get?" Marti's voice broke through the silence, like he tried to distract himself from the scene he had witnessed. "2", I smirked. "Scarlet and my beloved little brother." I had killed him slowly when he tried to sneak something from _my _Cornucopia. His unrecognizable leftovers were still inside of one of the bags I had shoved them in and that now lay right between the corpses.

In that very second they fired the cannons, and I counted four. "I had two too, some small guy and the twin girl", Reid grinned and high-fived me before holding my hand – we both inflicted so much force we'd have bruises afterwards. "I had none", Marti stated, looking upset.

"Whatever, man, let's put up some tents", Reid said with confidence. We examined the inside of the Cornucopia, and I tied the two machetes I especially liked to my belt: the large one I had used to torture my brother, and a small one meant for Eve.

When I stared at the now blood-soaked bag containing my brother, I had to grin again. "Welcome home", I whispered almost inaudible. Marti, meanwhile, slipped on the blood puddle my useless brother had left, and I almost killed him too, out of pure instinct. He was so much weaker than we were, but he'd help to take out competition too.

Reid had taken a trident now, and the idiot young one a sword, thus I grabbed somewhat around five throwing knifes and a rather small backpack, which I filled with a first aid kit and some fruits, along with even more throwing knifes. "Let's go hunting whilst they are still near. Some must still be hiding in the forest around here." I left and heard Reid tug along, and that made me laugh. He wasn't the leader of this pack, that was still me.

I checked the skyline for others, and actually spotted people. I didn't even bother to tell the others, I started running – followed closely by my monster and our ally, we ran and ran towards the forest the outlines had disappeared in. Not caring about who might hear me, I raced through the undergrowth, following the trails they left, and soon they came into view, already running from us.

It was the leftover from 6, and the ones from 5. The girl was first to climb a tree, the twin followed, and they started heaving up the weakling. I jumped up when they dragged him onto the lowest branch, and got a hold of his ankle, using my knife to cut a deep hole into his leg. He screamed and trashed, and we both fell. I twisted midair and landed with my knees burying in his chest. Ribs cracked beneath me and I handed him to Reid.

"Hold that for me, please", I smiled. "Hey, 5, don't you want to save you brother?" She looked at me, horror written all over her face. "Come down and you'll die instead of him." Lie. If she'd do, they'd both die. She shook her hand. "Then live with the guilt of killing your brother. Even though you'll die soon, too."

Reid held the small boy, who was paralyzed by fear, and I took my bloodied knife. "You hear that? Your sister doesn't care about you at all." He looked at me for a few seconds. "No Rea, help me! Please help me!" I looked up, and her face hardened, she shook her head – what a smart girl, she was harder than I thought. She'd die fast; there was no point in torturing the strong ones. The weaklings and weirdoes had to die painfully for punishing them for being weak and weird.

This boy was weak. I took my sweet time with him, and shared the pleasure with my beloved whilst Marti just looked at us with well but not completely concealed horror all over his face. When I made him participate, he did, and I had to pay him credit for that. I'd make his death quick too, I decided.

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Marti POV [D1, M, 14]

This was sick. The boy's blood was all over my arms after Irina challenged me to torture him too, in fact she told me to take 'that stick out of my ass' or she'd replace it with a machete. I didn't have any problems killing, but this hour-lasting torture and pain, the screams the others had enjoyed, that was awful. I almost threw up over the whining boy when I heard both of them moan in actual pleasure. Reid hadn't lied at the interview, this was their passion. And one of these days, I'd be their victim.

Would they kill me in the same way they did with the little boy? We only left when he was dead, the others had climbed so high that they were out of reach, and Irina said she wanted the girl to suffer a little before she'd kill her.

It was dark when we reached the camp. Someone had stolen from the supplies, and Irina noticed too. "Must've been Eve, and she'll pay for that. But not today." I stared at Reid, he too was covered in blood and somehow, this whole situation was so much different from what I'd imagined, I needed time to think.

"I'll take the first watch. But you guys should wash off that loser's blood." I tried to sound strong, but I wasn't. The facade was hard to keep up, and I begged someone would distract me from this. Irina did, though, and she did by stripping down to her underpants and washing her body with water from our generous supplies – her body was really beautiful, and I couldn't help but stare at her curves.

Reid's icy stare and her confident smirk brought me back to reality, and I started a fire with some of the stray wood around to distract myself from my distraction – oh the irony. Then Irina washed her clothing, dried herself with a sleeping bag and took another one into her tent. Reid did the same, and I noticed he followed her into her tent. I figured they wouldn't get any sleep either, and sat down next to my fire, lighting it with some matches.

I wasn't entirely covered in blood, just my arms and some on my chest, and I washed it off. In the dead silence of the night, I over-thought the situation again. This was different from what I'd seen in other games. This was the reality, the one thing I had forgotten to include in my calculations. My sister was dead, I had psychopaths for allies and I knew they'd kill me too.

I had wanted to win this thing, get all the glories and the ladies, and to prove my worth to my mother, but now I realized that this goal was too far away to reach in this situation. It had felt like it was close when I was in training, or gave my interview, but now all I wanted to do is run away. A strange fear settled in my stomach, fear for my own life, and this feeling chocked me. I had lost both of my sisters, and something told me I wouldn't leave this arena either.

But then I smirked. It would do no good to stay here. I carefully picked all the needed supplies, a lot of food and water and several swords into my backpack, taking a sleeping bag and a plastic tarp with me before I left, and started racing towards the forest patch on the opposite direction the other alliance and Eve went. I would've killed the psychopaths, but they probably would've overwhelmed me.

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Rea POV [D5, F, 18]

When he said that, asked for help when he knew it would only get me killed too, something snapped. I wasn't his, I wouldn't sacrifice if it wouldn't help, and I felt myself shaking my head yet again, staring down at the three killers with a hardened glare. I felt the younger boy next to me, he was sitting on a lower branch though, take my hand and squeeze it.

"You know this'll take its time", he whispered and climbed up to me. "You can do this", were his words before my brother's pained sobs filled the air, his cries pierced my hearts, and it didn't stop for a long time. Only when the sun started setting, they left, and left my brother behind. The cannon was fired, and I never got to say goodbye, I still didn't look at his corpse – I could only imagine what he must look like now.

Pain and guilt raged through my body, and I climbed down carefully. "We should run to the next forest patch", Dylan murmured. His voice sounded pained, and I knew why: he too lost his sibling. "I didn't try to save her either", he said, and his words didn't have any effect on me, despite his obvious pain. I was paralyzed, looking away from the corpse, having my eyes closed.

"We'll run at three", I managed. "1", I turned my head, "2", I got ready to run. "3", I opened my eyes and took a second to stare at my brother's remains, a bloody, red mess. I could make out the internal organs, aside from those they destroyed. Then I ran off, as fast as possible, and sped up and up, until we reached the forest patch he'd been talking about.

My lungs were filled with fire, my legs were weak and wobbly, but I kept going, and climbed a tree in panic, trying to escape the image. It didn't work, but at least the numbness was gone. Dylan had problems to keep up with me, and when he reached my tree, I helped him up and hugged him. He hugged me back without hesitating, and whispered: "Let's be each other's sibling for now."

A stupid idea, if we'd get too attached, we'd suffer if one of us died. Nonetheless I needed a brother, and I needed this intimacy, thus I nodded, still sobbing. "My sister… when I ran off, her eyes told me she didn't forgive me. She hates me now. She hated me in her last moment." I pulled him closer for a second, and then let go.

"We'll need to stay strong and win this thing for them. They would've done the same. And we would've killed my brother anyway, remember the plan." He nodded. "I'm sorry", he whispered, and I knew what for. I patted his head and smiled.

"Let's check our backpacks." We found four filled water bottles, fruit and dried meat as well as rope and some matches, along with one sleeping bag. "You take the sleeping bag", I said. "We'll eat the fruit first, I won't last long."

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Eve POV [D4, F, 16]

I limped off the scene, taking the bloody knife out of my leg, but the pain made me drop it. Not able to pick it up, I hurried towards the area in which I saw the other alliance disappear. Yeah, there was basically just the leftover one from 6 with the ones from 5 as an alliance, and the careers. I didn't see what happened to the young ones, but they sure as hell were dead. The odds weren't in my favor, but I had a weapon and supplies at last.

When I reached the forest patch close to the one the idiot alliance (my official nickname for them) had hidden in, I heard faint screams. Sounded like a boy, so I smiled when I imagined my beloved torturing a tribute – the thought of that bitch next to him made me frown, though, and the thought of them sharing a tent made me gag. He was mine, she had no right to take him. I'd prove my point, though, when I'd kill her and claim him as my prize.

Now was not the time to fantasize though, I'd have to find shelter and treat my wound. I noticed I had left a blood trail, but there was nothing I could do about it before stopping to actually leave a trail of red, thus I checked my backpack and found a first aid kit. The wound was deep, but not too bad – it'd slow me down, though.

I grinned at the thought of how she'd missed me whilst I wrapped bandage over the cut I had treated with antibacterial cream before. The medicine was cheap and had burned really badly, and I was almost unable to walk. A few thick bushes provided enough shelter from view, I used some of the sand that the savanna mainly consisted of, and covered up most of the blood trail near my camp.

I saw another patch of forest at the skyline, and I suddenly knew what I was going to do in a few days, after I'd be able to properly walk again. Till then, I'd have to hide in here, because walking through the open, especially at day, was way too dangerous. I only had one water bottle, and decided not to drink anything yet – I'd need it for later.

In a few days, I thought, I could go hunting – both animals and tributes. It would be more fun if I had my beloved with me, but we'd be united at one point, and he'd accept me. He just needed some time to realize how much he loved me, I was certain he'd do.

I loved him so much, it just couldn't happen that he didn't love me back – my feelings were to powerful to be rejected. And he'd help me kill this little bitch, and we'd laugh at her pained cries. With that thought in my head, I crawled into my sleeping bag and gave in to the exhaustion, hoping no one – or nothing – would find me.

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Reid POV [D4, M, 17]

I left my sleeping monster behind in the tent and went to check on Marti. He should've awoken me for watch a few hours ago, and I immediately sensed something was wrong. I got outside, and looked around. A part of the supplies gone, as well as almost all of the swords and a backpack. He left. I scanned the skyline, but couldn't spot him.

Irina crawled out of the tent, saw how tensed I was and got her machete in mere seconds. "Marti left", I growled, and I saw something in her eyes that made me smirk as she said: "We probably scared him half to death. What a wimp he is." She was a lot calmer than me, and that helped me to contain my boiling rage. "We'll find him in the end. He's all yours when we do", she grinned and focused on a certain forest patch. I looked at her in shock.

"You give up a kill?" She shook her head. "Nope", popping the p, "I want your sister instead." I growled. "She wants to take what's undeniably mine. I get her if you want me to tell you where the idiot is." She was able to surprise me again – things never got boring with her. She grinned.

"It's a deal, then. Where did he go?" "He most likely went the opposite direction of the other's, and he left a trail." I saw him footsteps too now, almost gone already in the soft sand. "I'll bet my buttons he went for that hiding spot." She pointed towards the forest she had concentrated on before. "The arena is limited by a force field. So he won't get too far."

I nodded, what she said made sense. "We'll go after him first." When she shot me a questioning glance, I smirked. I was surprising her too, good to know. "He has more supplies we need to get back, and when we give her time, Eve will kill off the other alliance." "You're a smart cookie", she grinned and I saw her tongue flick over her lips as she gathered her machete. "We are wasting time." I wasn't too eager to go, and she noticed.

She threw one last look at the supplies, and almost laughed. "He took the sleeping bag I used to dry myself. On purpose, I suppose, he stared when I washed myself." The thought of him thinking about Irina in this way, or even worse, have her in such a way made my blood boil. "Let's find that bastard!" She knew what would happen when she'd say that. Smart cookie indeed.

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Mina POV [D3, F, 12]

When the bloodbath started, I hid in a small hole in the area, hearing faint screaming whilst curling up in the darkness, back pressed against the inner wall consisting of dirt. I was afraid the whole thing would give in and bury me, but there was no alternative. Four cannons were shot, I had seen my brother die, so I didn't really care who the others were.

His death had been so gruesome, I couldn't get it out of my head, I relived and relived the scene, no matter how I tried to distract myself. But in a stupid earth hole there wasn't any distraction anyway. The only time I heard something was when footsteps came closer and closer, and laughing as well as taunting filled the air. The careers, I almost panicked, but forced myself to stay quiet.

Shortly before they reached my hideout, I heard them picking up speed, three people running towards me, and I shut my eyes, expecting them to have seen me and coming for me every second. The footsteps passed, though, and after a few minutes, I knew they weren't waiting outside to cruelly surprise me. When I poked my head out I saw them walking towards a forest patch that sure as hell contained people.

Without thinking, I crawled outside and ran towards their campsite. I had no supplies, and most likely sponsors, so I had to try and get something. The camp was unguarded as expected, and I filled a backpack with as much food and water as possible. With the heavy thing as well as a sleeping bag I made my way back, only to see them coming in the distance. If I'd run now, they'd see me, thus I tried to hide in a small patch of tall grass.

Again I expected them to have spotted me, and yet again they passed by without noticing me. I suppose being small and unmemorable can have its perks. When they were far enough away, I made my way back to my hiding place, not finding it directly and panicking yet again. When I found it, it was by accident.

The sun was gone and I didn't see the entrance, thus I fell inside. But after I drank, ate and curled up in my bag, I realized that I could go on like this for some time, not leaving my spot and rationing my supplies, and maybe I could outlast the others. That sounded like a plan, a bad plan, but I didn't have a better one.

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The fallen:

Day 1:

D1: Scarlet Annerose Cole, F, 18: her stomach was pierced with a machete after the bloodbath (killed by Irina, D2)

D2: Toby Neiva, M, 16: he was cut into pieces and tortured until his head was separated from his body (killed by Irina, D2)

D3: Drake Michigan, M, 12: he was repeatedly stabbed in the stomach with a dull dagger and then left to bleed out (killed by Reid, D4)

D5: Tristan Junes, M, 15: he was slowly gutted and tortured to death by the three careers (killed by Marti, D1 [he made the final blow])

D6: Reiko Rhys, F, 15: her throat was cut with a dull dagger; she bled to death (killed by Reid, D4)

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Still alive: Marti (D1), Irina (D2), Mina (D3) Eve (D4), Reid (D4), Rea (D5), Dylan (D6)

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**A/N: Well, well, well, I really took my sweet time with this chapter. In fact, it took so long because school sucks some serious ass, but I really had no idea what to do in this chapter, how many I should kill off and how detailed it should be.**

**Aside from that, how did you like it? I wasn't sure if I should upload it like this; something about it really upsets me. It isn't the worst chapter up in this ff, but it definitively isn't the best. **


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